The New 14th Noah
by Your-Role
Summary: Allen Walker becomes a Noah and joins the side of the Millenium Earl. Lenalee, Lavi, Kanda, and Timcanpy are the only ones who know. Can they save Allen or will Allen destroy them?
1. Gone

Based on an RP on Yourrole (see the homepage)

Put into fanfic format by Sailorstar165

Characters:

Allen Walker: Sailorstar165  
Lenalee Lee: Sailorstar165  
Lavi: love4Sora  
Kanda: love4Sora  
Timcanpy: Everyone  
Lvellie: Sailorstar165  
Millenium Earl: Shimanishiki  
Road: xTwilight_Angelx  
Tyki: xTwilight_Angelx  
Lulubelle: xTwilight_Angelx  
Jasdero and David : xTwilight_Angelx  
Akuma: Everyone

* * *

Allen wanted to die.

He ached all over, and when his body wasn't aching, he felt as if he was on fire. But it wasn't the pain that made him want to die. It was what he was becoming.

He knew it was coming. He didn't want to believe it, though, until he'd looked into the mirror that morning and saw the cross-shaped cuts starting to form on his forehead. He was becoming a Noah.

He looked at Lenalee, who was sitting in the chair at his bedside. She was dabbing his face with a cool damp cloth. It didn't help though. The pain wouldn't go away, no matter what she did. And he knew it would only get worse before it got better.

Everything started swimming before his eyes again. Lenalee was a swirling fog, while Lavi--he was watching the door to make sure no one was coming--became a grinning demon. Everything was distorted.

That's when he saw it. Mana's smiling face was in front of him. Allen cried out again, "Mana!" He reached up to his "father." He knew nothing was there, but he didn't care. Mana was the only comfort in his pain. Lenalee and Lavi... They'd soon be dead. He knew that once his transformation was complete, he'd have to kill them.

Mana was already dead. Allen couldn't do anything to him now...

Lenalee glanced hopelessly at Lavi, who was watching them both. Allen was so feverish he was seeing things. She placed the damp cloth on his forehead and waited for his delusion to pass. He was crying out for his father, and she could see the tears in his eyes as he did so.

"Lavi, are we doing the right thing?" she asked. "Allen said that if he were to become the 14th Noah... that we should kill him... But I... I don't want Allen to die!"

They were keeping it a secret. No one knew about Allen's transformation. In fact, they only knew because they'd gone to check on him when he hadn't come down for breakfast. Allen had been curled up on the ground in front of his mirror, holding his forehead. When they'd finally managed to pry his hand away, Lenalee saw the cross-shaped wounds. Lavi had judged that the transformation had started sometime in the night by the amount of blood on Allen's hands. Despite all of this, Lenalee had gone and lied to both her brother and Lvellie that Allen had a bad cold. She'd said that she and Lavi would keep an eye on him, since the matron was in bed with her own illness.

She glanced back at Allen, who had stopped muttering about Mana and was fast asleep again. Lenalee smiled sadly and touched Allen's left arm--he'd reached for Mana with it, so it was uncovered by the blankets. "It'll be all right, Allen," she said. She knew he couldn't hear her, but she wanted to reassure herself as well as him.

Even if he wasn't allowed to exactly (since he's the future Bookman and all), it pained Lavi to see Allen in so much pain and so confused. Lavi hated the fact that there was nothing he could do to help his friend. Lavi bent his head down far enough so his hair was in his eyes, and faced the door once more. He heard Lenalee talking and turned to face her again.

Softly, he replied, "I don't know, Lenalee. Perhaps it would be best if Allen was to die, and he would never become a horrible monster. One half of me wants to end his life for his own sake, while the other just can't get myself to hurt a friend."

He knew Lenalee was probably looking for a better answer than that, but Lavi was just as worried and confused as she was.

Lavi once again faced the door and leaned against it. He looked down at the doorknob, and noticed it wasn't locked. Right away, he locked it tight.

Without facing her, or moving, Lavi asked, "Lenalee, how long can we keep this a secret? Allen's transformation is nearly over, and soon enough, the Earl or any of the other Noah will come for him. We won't be able to keep it a secret once he's gone... right?"

Lenalee shook her head. "I don't know how long we'll be able to keep this secret... We have to find a way to keep Allen as Allen, though. There has to be a way. He's an Exorcist, right? He was chosen by the Innocence. God wouldn't leave us like this, would He?" She was trying to find comfort in the idea, but it only pained her more. A voice in the back of her head knew better. _God has left you before_, it seemed to say, _like when Suman became a Fallen One, or when Yeegar was killed. God hadn't helped us then, so what makes you think it'll be any different with Allen?_

Lenalee felt the hot tears roll down her cheeks and watched them land on Allen's hand.

Allen lifted his hand and wiped away Lenalee's tears. "Don't cry," he said, putting on a weak smile. His breathing was labored. To him, it felt as if he really were dying. The only thing missing was the end of the pain and the numbness of death he'd experienced before when Tyki had pierced his heart. "Please, Lenalee... I don't want to see you cry..." His eyes were dulling. He knew he was going to fall asleep again; he also knew that when he awoke, he'd no longer be an exorcist, but a Noah. "Please, Lavi... If you and Lenalee can't kill me... get Lvellie or Link to... Hell, I'm sure Kanda would be perfectly happy to finish me... He's always saying... that he's gonna kill me for somethin' or another..." His eyelids felt heavy. He had to stay awake! He wouldn't be himself when he woke up!

"I don't want to hurt you guys," he said drowsily. "I'd rather be dead than betray the Order..." His eyes closed and he was once again asleep.

Lavi lifted his head a little, and glanced back over at Allen. He really didn't want to talk about who would be the one to kill Allen before it was too late. A part of him wanted to do it himself, but another part just couldn't do it.

"Allen...I know you're in a lot of pain right now, but you can't expect us going around being your grim reaper or something. You're our friend--" Lavi stopped and then looked at Lenalee. "Then again... friends do things for other friends, no matter what the cost is... But," Lavi turned his head towards Allen again, but looked away from his eyes, "I don't think we could actually kill you Allen. I would be happy to put you out of your misery, but the guilt of killing you--my friend--would certainly come to haunt me..."

Lavi didn't want the thought to come to mind, but it had been haunting him the second he found out about Allen becoming a Noah. He's just put the cruel, upsetting thought aside until now. "I'm sorry, Lenalee, but if God was truly on our side, this would've never happened. I'm afraid it might be too late for Him to jump in and save Allen now."

Lenalee looked at Allen. He looked so peaceful asleep. It was as if he'd just come back from a mission, and the bandages on his head were simply from a wound inflicted by an Akuma. She wished that that were the case. "Lavi, what should we do? Should we tell Lvellie or my brother about this...?" She didn't want to. Telling anyone else would mean certain death. She ran through their list of options.

Miranda wouldn't be able to help. She might be able to stop the transformation or reverse it, but that would be until she deactivated her Time Record. She didn't want to put that much strain on her friend.

Krory wouldn't be helpful. Krory sucked Akuma blood, not Noah. His vampiric Innocence would be completely useless in this situation.

Lavi's hammer wouldn't be any use either. The only stamp that could possibly work would be "Wood Stamp," but that controlled forces of nature, not Noah genes.

Her Dark Boots couldn't do anything. They were meant for destroying Akuma, not getting rid of Noah.

Kanda's Innocence would only be useful if they decided to kill Allen. That would be a last resort.

"Allen!" she said, trying to shake her friend awake. "Allen! Wake up! You can use your Innocence to destroy the Noah!"

Allen struggled to answer. His eyes were barely open, but he was able to reply with a, "I tried, but I couldn't activate my Innocence... I think the Noah genes aren't letting me concentrate enough to Invoke it... Or maybe..." and he hoped that this wasn't the reason, "I'm not an accommodator anymore..." He was nodding off again. He knew they wouldn't be able to wake him up this time. "Lenalee, Lavi... I'm sorry..." he muttered. His eyes closed. "Whatever you choose to do... Goodbye..."

"I don't know what we should do. If we go tell someone, they'll end Allen's life before it's too late. And....I don't want Allen's life to end. But what's better? For him to die now, or for his human life to die while the Noah takes over?" Lavi knew the answer to that question. They all did, but Lavi couldn't imagine Allen dying, here and now. He tried to run the thought through his head. During that time, Lenalee was trying to get Allen to activate his Innocence. Lavi heard the reasoning of why Allen couldn't, but he didn't want to believe, let alone hear it.

Lavi looked over at them and watched as Allen's eyes close. "Allen!" Lavi ran over to the opposite side of Lenalee and hovered over Allen. He grabbed hold of Allen's shoulders and began to shake him, trying to get Allen to open his eyes. "C'mon, Allen! You can't give up like this! You have to keep trying." Lavi's eyes were wide with fright, with tears at the corner of each eye. "Don't give up! Think about us, your friends. And... Mana! Think of your father. He wouldn't want you to give up like this!"

Lavi tightly shut his eyes, trying to hold back the tears, but they kept coming. By this time, Lavi was falling down to his knees on the ground. Without lifting a finger, Lavi slid both of his hands down to Allen right hand and held it tight. Lavi spoke just loud enough so that Lenalee and possibly Allen could hear. "Please, Allen, don't give up."

"Allen!" Lenalee cried. She tapped his cheek and sighed when he didn't respond. "I'm not sure, but somehow... I think this is the last time we'll talk to Allen while he's a human..." A clock chimed ten o'clock somewhere in Headquarters. "We have to do something, Lavi. We have to think of a way to save him."

Allen felt Lenalee and Lavi fussing over him but couldn't open his eyes. He heard Lavi talking, trying to get him to not give up. He wanted to tell Lavi that he was far from giving up, but he couldn't move. It was like he was trapped in his pain, unable to escape. He wanted to tell them to kill him, despite his having not given up. He'd sworn that if he became a Noah, he would end his life somehow. Even if he didn't want to give up, he had no choice. It was either become a Noah, or die.

_Just finish me_, he thought. _Just end this life. I can't do anything like this.

* * *

_It was early morning in the 15th Ark and Tyki was just waking up for another uneventful day. Ever since they made this 15th ark, the Earl didn't allow the Noah to go anywhere until quote on quote, "the upper hand was given to them," which was so boring and so... unpleasant... to Tyki. It was when Tyki had just gotten dressed nicely for breakfast and was heading out the door, that a level 3 Akuma approached him with a message from the Earl himself.

"The Earl request a task from you, Lord Tyki Mikk," it said in a hallowed out voice.

Tyki sighed and asked the Akuma, "This early in the morning? What does he want?"

" A new Noah has appeared, and he wants you to go pick him up," the Akuma said with a demonic smile, "He believes it's the Noah of Sorrow." The Akuma handed Tyki a card and said, "Here's where he is."

Tyki took the card from the Akuma and read it. He then was stunned at the name at the top: Allen Walker. Tyki smiled and said, "Well now, this is most interesting indeed..."

Even with the 15th ark, it still took him three hours to get to The Black Order and bypass the security. Tyki made it to the room right below Allen's and carefully poked his head up through the floor. He retracted back down when he realized that the Heart girl and Eye-patch-kun were with him. Tyki held his head like he usually did and transformed to his rose demon form.

Tyki reached up through the floor with two thorned vines, grabbed Lenalee by the wrist and Lavi by the ankles and dragged them through the floor. Because he couldn't make Innocence phase through anything, Lenalee's boots and Lavi's hammer remained on Allen's floor after he dragged them down. When the two exorcists came down into the room he was in, he said to them in a demonic voice, "Just here to pick something up. You don't mind if I just grab it and go, do ya?" He flung the two of them into the wall of that room and then jumped up through the floor, up to Allen's room.

As Tyki phased through Allen's floor, he changed back into his sophisticated clothing and walked up to the side of Allen's bed. He looked down upon the sleeping, former exorcist who was struggling in his sleep from pain. Tyki took Lenalee's seat and looked down at Allen with saddened eyes. _I can still remember how painful it was when the stigma kicked in_, he thought to himself as he took off his top hat and rested it on his thighs_, It pains me to see this boy struggle with it too, even if he was my enemy_.

Tyki found it ironic that the one exorcist that gave him the most trouble was now going to become his brother. Either way, though, he had a job to do and he couldn't take Allen easily if he was thrashing around so much. He pulled off his right glove and rested his hand lightly over Allen's eyes and forehead and started to sing to him in a baritone voice:

"_Soshite bouya wa nemuri ni tsuite__  
Ikizuku hai no naka no honoo  
Hitotsu, futatsu to..._"

Tyki knew this song very well. It was the melody that used to control the previous ark before It stopped working for the Earl. The Earl would play it anytime he had it moved and would also play it for his "children" to entertain them.

As Tyki continued to sing the song, Allen's thrashing became less and less violent. The song controlled the ark, but it also doubled as a lullaby for the Noah.

By the time Tyki had finished his lullaby, Allen was now calmly asleep. Tyki replaced his hat upon his head, his glove on his hand, and gently lifted up his new brother into his arms. He had his left arm under Allen's knees and his right arm supporting Allen's upper back. Tyki rocked him, and he whispered to Allen, "Its alright Nii-san, we can make the pain stop. We just need to take a little trip first."

* * *

Allen heard the familiar song and felt the pain ebbing away. The painful darkness that had engulfed him disappeared and was replaced by a strange dream.

Standing across from Allen was himself, but with gray skin and gold eyes. While Allen was wearing his usual black jacket, the other him was wearing white. The other him smiled. "It's my turn for a while," he said.

"Who are you?" Allen asked.

The Noah him's smile grew larger. "I'm you, so to speak. Don't worry, I won't do anything you wouldn't want to." He offered a hand to Allen. "Well? Shall I take away your pain for good?"

Allen took his hand and felt his own consciousness fade away. He was still there, but he had no power. All he could do was watch what the Noah did. Still, he existed. He would find a way to return, somehow.

* * *

Lenalee rushed up the stairs with Lavi hot on her heels. "We have to hurry! If Tyki gets Allen--!" She didn't want to think about it. She reached the door and tried to open it. She cursed. "Lavi, you locked the door! What were you thinking?!" She could hear Tyki's voice on the other side, talking to Allen. She pulled on the knob a harder. "Lavi! Help me with this!"

Lavi ran over and continuously bashed into it with his body. "Well, Lenalee, I thought that locking the door would... keep people out." Lavi bashed his body into the door harder, and began kicking and pounding his fists against the door. "But I never thought that we would be the ones out here." Lavi continued to pound his fists against the door as he fell down to his knees. "How was I supposed to know that Tyki Mikk would drag us through the floor?"

This was bad. Very bad. Tyki Mikk was inside that room with Allen, and he and Lenalee locked out. The only thing preventing them from reaching Allen was this door.

Lavi jumped back up to his feet, backed away a few a little. Lavi then ran toward the door, full speed. While doing so, he shouted, "Damn it!" Lavi hit the door, then began punching it with all his strength. "Allen! Get up and get away from that Noah. Damn it, don't give in!"

Lavi knew that it was hopeless. If Allen was really still with him and Lenalee, he would've come and ran out by now. It was over.

* * *

Tyki turned his head towards the door and heard Allen's friends pounding away, trying to get in. He was unsure why they couldn't just open the door but soon realized that it was locked. He chuckled at their predicament as he went over to the window and opened it. He couldn't phase through any of the walls or floors because Allen had Innocence inside of him. He jumped up onto the windowsill and said to the door, "Say farewell to your friend, exorcists."

He jumped out the window and controlled the amount of air he touched so that he gently floated down to the entrance of the Black Order. He casually walked along the path that led no where. There was an entrance to the 15th ark waiting for Tyki and Allen right at the drop off of that path.

"I can walk, you know," Allen said to Tyki. He had woken up right when Tyki touched the ground. His skin was gray and the stigma had turned to scars on his forehead. He glanced at the black door to the ark. It was too late to turn back now.

Tyki looked down at Allen and said politely, "Oh I'm sorry there. I thought you were still asleep. Glad to see you have... _Awakened_..." He carefully let Allen down and stood him up. He ruffled Allen's hair with one hand and then patted his shoulder with the same hand. "Shall we press on then, Nii-san?" Tyki asked as wrapped his hand arm over Allen's shoulders.

Tyki was trying to seem kind to his past enemy now that he was his ally with this gesture, but he did this so that if he wanted to try and run back, Tyki would already have a hand on him. Tyki began to stroll with the new Noah down the path to the door to the new ark.

Allen knocked Tyki's hand away, making sure to use his Innocence arm to do so. "I may be a Noah, but I'm sure as hell not your brother." He turned to the ark and walked toward it himself. "I still haven't forgiven you for trying to kill me."

Tyki took back his hand and rubbed it a little and then said to Allen in a semi stern voice, "Like it or not, we're kin now, Allen. You might as well get used to it because the Earl is going to start calling you his child." Tyki fixed his hat and nudged Allen to walk with him towards the ark.

As the continued to walk, Tyki explained to Allen, "Listen...I am sorry about trying to kill you. I only did that because the Earl told me to and back then you were still just an exorcist. Frankly, I would have liked to just play cards with you again..." Tyki was trying his best to seem sincere, and he was, but he had a feeling Allen wouldn't believe him for a long time now.

Tyki pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a match. After a few puffs, he said, "I'm not forcing you to believe me I just thought I'd tell you."

"The first thing you can do if we're supposed to kin is stop smoking. It makes me sick." Allen glared coldly. It reminded him too much of Cross and all the debts he'd collected from his master's dirty habits. He felt dizzy and grabbed onto Tyki's arm. He wasn't sure if it was the memory of Cross's debts or if he was still under the weather from his transformation.

Sighing at Allen's request, Tyki threw his cigarette on the ground and stamped it out. "I'm sorry there, force of habit." As Allen grabbed onto Tyki's arm, he was a little baffled at first but then smiled at him. He held his arm up a little and gladly helped his new brother down the path

They continued walking. "Hey, Tyki, is there a way for me to look normal?" Allen asked. His skin was still gray, which meant the scars were still obvious. "I don't like looking like this."

Tyki stopped before they entered and he explained to him, "You will be able to eventually; it's something you learn how to do yourself. However, the stigma has to set in first before you can do that. As of now, it's still working its way through your body and isn't stable yet."

Allen sighed and nodded. He'd just have to wait. He closed his eyes a moment as they passed through the ark's gate. He still felt sick. Maybe it was the Noah genes and not his memory of Cross after all. He wanted to lie down, but he didn't want to have to be carried by Tyki either. Regardless of what Tyki said, he still didn't trust his new "brother."

After Tyki had helped Allen through the entrance, he turned around to look at the Black Order building and smiled. The Noah now had their upper hand. Tyki then walked through the gate himself and right after he did, it retracted itself into the sky—the two of them were now long gone.

* * *

Lenalee heard Tyki say, "Say fair well to your friend exorcists."

She turned to Lavi. "We need help." She glanced up and down the hall, desperately search. She then saw Kanda wandering up the hallway. "Kanda! We need help!"

Kanda looked over his shoulder to see who had called him. It was Lenalee Lee. She was standing next to Lavi, who was banging against Allen Walker's door. He sighed and walked over. "What are you two doing, banging against the Bean Sprout's door?" He glared at Lavi, who continued to bang against the door. Something was up.

Lavi turned to Lenalee, then looked at Kanda. As always, he looked pissed. _Of all the people, why Yu? _Lavi went back to banging against the door as he said to Kanda, without looking at him, "Allen's in trouble, and we need to get inside." Lavi pouted his lip and glanced over at Kanda. He was glaring at him, which often gave Lavi the chills. "And well... we need you to cut the door down with your sword..."

_Great, they want me to actually help him._ Kanda crossed his arms without taking his glaring eyes off of Lavi. "And why would I do anything to help the bean sprout?" Kanda hated anything that had to do with Allen Walker. Not only that, everyone in the Black Order knew that. So why would they ask him, of all the people, to help?

"Well... Lenalee and I... um... well..." Lavi didn't know if he should say why. He knew that they were in desperate need of help, but would Kanda just let Allen turn into a Noah? He would probably want to, but Lavi couldn't say for sure. Lavi stopped pounding, and looked over at Lenalee. His eyes were pleading for help.

"Tyki's in there kidnapping Allen!" Lenalee said quickly. "Our Innocence is in there too because Tyki made us phase through the floor! And..." she trailed off. They couldn't avoid it any longer. They had to tell someone. "Allen's turning into a Noah. We weren't sure, but..." She looked at the floor so that Lavi and Kanda couldn't see her face past her bangs. Tears fell from her eyes and she watched them splash on the floor. "We need you to..." She voice failed her at the end. She hoped Kanda would understand.

Kanda's serious, glaring face faded away as he heard what Lenalee had to say.

Kanda knew that it was possible, but he didn't think that it would ever happen to an exorcist. The Noah's enemy was the exorcists, so why would it happen to an exorcist? Kanda knew nothing, and he already had uncountable of questions flowing through his mind.

He stepped forward and pushed both of his fellow exorcists to the side. "Alright, I'll help you get in there, but I'm not doing it for you two or the bean sprout. I'm doing it because there's a Noah in there."

Kanda grabbed hold of Mugen and pulled it out in front of him. He ran his finger along the long blade and said, "Mugen, Activate." The sword flashed blue for a moment, but then faded until it was barely glowing. He then brought Mugen over his head and swung it down through the center of the door vertically. The door snapped in two.

Gripping onto his sword tightly, he walked into the room and looked around. He looked over his shoulder at Lenalee and Lavi, who had followed him inside rather quickly. "No one's here."

"What...?" Lavi ran ahead of Kanda and looked around the room. He even looked under the bed. "Damn it-!" Lavi shivered and then looked over at the window. It was open. He quickly ran over to it and stuck his head out into the cold air. "Allen!"

Lavi knew that it was too late, and that his voice would most likely be unheard. But still, he continuously shouted Allen's name louder and louder, hoping to be heard by his friend... Well, possibly former friend now....

Lenalee's knees buckled. "Tyki must have taken him..." she said. Her vision blurred from the tears in her eyes. "Allen's gone..." She buried her face in her hands. "Oh God, Allen!" she sobbed. "He really did become a Noah! We should have..." but she didn't know what they should have done. There was nothing they could have done.


	2. New Family and The Plan

The Earl's ark now resided in the cold tundra of northern Russia. There was no point to be around people, since they still didn't have the plant, so they parked the Ark in one of the most brutal landscapes of the entire world. The inside the ark, however, was a pleasant climate of about seventy degrees Fahrenheit (about twenty-one degrees Celsius) and sunny, although there was no sun in the ark. The new ark looked much like the old ark except for the changed contents of the rooms. As Tyki guided Allen through the walkways, he noticed that Allen was still stumbling around dizzy; he seemed like he was drunk. "Do you need help?" Tyki asked inquisitively as he watched Allen fumble along the wall of one of the buildings. "I could carry you if you really can't walk, or I could at least assist you in walking."

"I don't need help," Allen snapped. He did, though. The world around him was spinning, much like it had before sun rise. That was about when he'd looked in the mirror and discovered the stigma. Allen stumbled again and fell sideways onto the ground. He tried to get back up, but his body seemed heavy. "Damn it!" Allen shouted. He managed to drag himself into a sitting position, but his legs weren't cooperating for him to stand up. He glared at the brick street they were on, cursing himself mentally.

Tyki turned around and was just about to apologize when he watched Allen fall over onto the ground. _Oh, this kid so needs help_, Tyki thought to himself. _I guess it was bad of me to drag him out of bed like that before the stigma set in but I had to get him away from there..._ Tyki grabbed Allen by his right hand, slung it over his own shoulders, held him up by his back belt loop, and then started to drag Allen down the cobble stone street.

The two of them only traveled down about seven more houses before Tyki stopped in front of one of the doors, reached into his pocket, and pulled out one of Road's keys. He pulled the door shut—it led into a storage room—and locked and then unlocked the door. When he opened it again, a gothic parlor was on the other side.

The wall colors were of an almost black color while all of the furniture was of dark wood and red velvet. All of the Noah were there waiting for Tyki to return.

"Oi! Everyone!" he greeted his fellow Noah as he entered with Allen. "I brought our new brother home." He led Allen to a lay-down couch, sat him down, then pulled his legs up onto the couch and pushed him back gently to make him lay down. "Rest, Allen," he whispered politely. "It'll take a day or two for the stigma to settle in. All you can do for it is to lie down and maybe munch on something."

Allen groaned at the thought of suffering for two more days, and the thought of food made his stomach churn. He couldn't believe he was saying it, but he muttered, "I'm not hungry..." He closed his eyes and felt a surge of pain again. He felt his Innocence hand clench and his nails dig into the sofa cushion. He _REALLY_ hated this whole Noah thing.

Tyki looked down at Allen and said to him, "Well you don't have to eat. I'm just saying it something that can take your mind off of the pain. Skin was able to get over his stigma by sucking on hard candies." Tyki walked over to the coffee table where a bowl of assorted hard candies in honor of Skin sat. Tyki grabbed a hand full of candy and let them all drop back into the bowl except for a hard peppermint. Tyki unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth. He needed something to substitute for his cigarette. "If you want one," Tyki offered as he started to suck on the candy, "just let us know and we'll give you one."

"Give me whatever kind," Allen said at last. He didn't really care about the flavor as long as it took his mind off the pain. If it had worked for Skin, maybe it would work for him.

At the same time Road was waiting on the love seat throwing her teddy bear up in the air. She watched Allen come into the room with much enthusiasm. She really wanted to run up and glomp him again liked the last time she saw him, but she saw that he was generally sick with the stigma. She had been surprised as well when she found out that Allen was the next Noah_. I knew there was a reason I loved him_. She listened quietly yet impatiently as Tyki tried to offer relief to Allen. Road was the first one out of her seat when Allen gave in to Tyki's offer and swiped a piece of candy from the bowl just as Tyki leaned forward out of his seat to try and grab one for him.

She skipped over to his couch and kneeled down beside him. She unwrapped the candy and gently pushed it into Allen's mouth. "Here you go, Allen-kun," she said in her girly voice. "It's cherry." She stroked Allen's head "It's gonna be fine," she said to him in almost a whisper. "I'm gonna take real good care of you." She smiled at him as she continued to stroke his head

Jasdero and David, meanwhile, had been excited to see the new Noah until they laid their eyes on Allen. They both turned to each other with faces of disbelief.

"Cross's..." David started in a startled voice.

"...apprentice..." Jasdero continued in the same voice.

"...IS THE NEW NOAH?!?!?!" the both screamed in unison. The two of them started running around, shooting at each other and causing a general ruckus. They slunk to the back of one of the other couches, eyeing Tyki and Allen rather nastily. The twins asked in unison, "You're serious that he's the new Noah?"

Tyki sat down at the couch that the Twins were hiding behind and said to them, "I know, I was surprised too when I found out, but he's clearly displaying the stigma. He is in fact a Noah." He sat back and watched Road nurse Allen. _She's gonna be a happy camper with him here._

Allen let Road fuss over him. There wasn't any point in refusing, since he definitely wasn't about to get off the couch. "Thanks," he muttered. The cherry flavor was strong, but not too bad. It did help a little to take his mind off the stigma, but he still ached all over. His head started spinning again. He closed his eyes and groaned. "God, I hate this transformation thing," he muttered.

Earl stepped into the room. "Hello, my children!" he said brightly as he walked over the couch were his new Noah was lying. "Hello, Allen Walker. Welcome to your new home." He patted Road on the head. "Road, were is my Lero?" While waiting for her answer, the Earl turned to look at the rest of his children. "You all should be nice to your new brother. Tyki-pon, I didn't expect you to retrieve him so quickly." The Earl smiled. He loved it when things worked out so quickly. "This is the upper hand we need. My children, you have to wait just a little bit long. Then we may have your huge party with the world!" He laughed and turned back to Road.

"Oh, it's starting another cycle," Road commented to herself about Allen. He seemed to be enveloped in pain. She was ignoring the Earl—she had no idea where Lero went anyway. She got up quickly and left the room, but she whispered to the twins as she passed them in an irritated voice, "Help him!"

The twins looked from the Earl to Road and to each other with confused faces. They had no idea what to do. They weren't good with people. They slid in close to Tyki and David whispered, "Oi, Tyki. What should we do?"

Tyki was still sucking on his candy and was getting slightly annoyed by the Twin's overreaction to Allen, though, it could have been the fact that he couldn't smoke around Allen getting on his nerves most. "How about you actually get him a pillow?" Tyki suggested. He thought he should have done that in the first place but was too busy just getting him situated into the room, which had been hard considering Allen couldn't walk.

The twins looked at each other with smiles and Jasdero said to his twin, "Oh yeah! We can do that!" They ran over to the love seat and grabbed a round pillow for Allen.

David gently lifted Allen's head and said, to him "Hold on a sec."

Jasdero slid the pillow under his head and he said with a snicker, "There you go, exorcist-kun."

David hit him over the head and he said to his twin, "Baka! Don't call him that!" The twins walked away from Allen's sofa as David continued to pound on Jasdero while Jasdero tried to apologize between hits.

Road returned with a bowl of cold water and a wash cloth. She dampened the cloth and then laid it over Allen's head to try and lower his fever. "There you go."

The Earl stood back and watched Road a moment. "Well, what a pretty bride you will make for Allen-kun, Road." He chuckled. "I think you need to find Lero for me. Leave Allen alone for a bit. He need his rest for the wedding." The Earl was enjoying himself. "Run along my little Tomboy. Find Lero, and then I'll let you care for him."

Allen grunted. "Please don't joke around, Earl," he grumbled. Even if he was a Noah, he wasn't about to marry Road. In fact, it was even worse now that he was a Noah. "If I'm supposed to be like her brother, wouldn't that be incest?"

Road flung an arm around him and she said softly, "Either way, I still love you." She kissed him on the cheek. She took back her arm, looked up at the Earl with puppy dog eyes, and said, "I dunno where Lero is. I haven't played with him in two days." She stood up and fixed her skirt. "I'll look for him anyways." And with that, Road left the room.

The pain in Allen's head started pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat. Everything around him became distorted again. He closed his eyes and let his head drop back against the pillow. _Mental note: thank Tyki for the pillow_, he thought. Well, it was the twins who gave it to him, but Tyki was the one who told them to. His hands clenched into a fist again. "Why does it have to hurt so much...?" Allen muttered to no one in particular.

Tyki picked up one of his books sitting on the coffee table and started to find where he left off in it. As he did so, he answered Allen's question. "It's because the stigma is rearranging the composition of your body. We're superhumans that have denser muscle mass and rapid regenerating cells. Our bodies are made of slightly different materials than a normal human's. Actually the process might be harder on you because of the Innocence in your heart and left arm. I'm still not sure what the Noah Gene will do about that. You might not be able to activate you're innocence any more."

"Then what am I supposed to do about my arm?" Allen asked. "Before I could use my Innocence, I couldn't move my arm very well. If I can't use my Innocence, will my arm stop working the right way?"

"I told you, Nii-san," Tyki said, crunching down on the last remains of his peppermint, "I'm not sure what will happen, for all I know your Noah ability is that you can use the Innocence. But what I do know is that something is going to happen when the Noah Gene starts to rearrange the make up of your heart and left arm." Tyki watched in displeasure as Allen started wincing in pain again.

The pain was getting to be unbearable again. He closed his eyes, but tears still escaped from under his eyelids. He cried out and started to thrash against the pain. It was too much. Too much for him. Too much pain. "It hurts!" he shouted. "Make it stop! Please!"

Road came back into the Room with Lero in her hands and declared, "Found him; he was under your bed, Earl." Road looked down at Allen as he started struggling in intense pain. "Tyki," she said to him in a concerned voice, "Why don't you play that song for him?" She looked over at the black grand piano that was behind Allen's sofa.

"Must I?" Tyki said in slight disappointment since he had just started to read his book.

"You're the only one who can play it besides the Earl." David said to Tyki in a monotone voice. He was now preoccupied with his pistol.

"Yeah, we play... how you put it? Off key," Jasdero added with a snicker as he watched his twin play with his gun.

Tyki sighed, closed his book, stood up and walked over to the piano. He sat down and took off his top hat and began to play the song.

Road hummed along with the intro and then started to sing the lyrics for Allen in hopes that he would start to calm down again.

"_Soshite bouya wa nemuri ni tsuite  
Ikizuku hai no naka no honoo  
Hitotsu, futatsu to..._"

Allen felt the pain ease again with each line, but it didn't go away completely. He opened his eyes and glanced at Road. She had a really pretty voice, but he wasn't about to tell her that. If he did, she would glomp him, regardless of the pain he was in.

He felt cold. It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on him. He shivered uncontrollably. He couldn't stop, nor could he get warm. _Joy_, he thought miserably_, I have a fever and I'm freezing at the same time_.

The Earl tucked Lero under his arm and listened to the song. The Earl hummed along. _I love this song!_ he thought. Looking over at his new child, the Earl's grin got bigger_. Allen Walker is now mine... This is what the Noah need... our upper hand in this battle._ He grabbed a blanket and put it over Allen. "Close your eyes... The pain will stop soon. Want other piece of candy?" The Earl stared down at Allen. "You are now my child. Rest peacefully, my son." He slowly backed out of the room. "Have fun my children!" He called out be for he disappeared.

Tyki looked over to see how Allen was faring under the spell of their song. He didn't looked to be in pain anymore but now looked as though he was cold, even with the blanket the Earl had given him. "Oi, Jasdevi," Tyki said to the twins in an annoyed voice as he continued to play the song, "go get Allen another blanket."

Jasdero and David both turned around to look at Tyki, trying to concentrate on his voice rather than the song. David started to say to him, "Why should we get him a-"

"Just do it already!" Tyki shouted, cutting him off. Tyki was reaching the end of the song and he changed the end so that it flowed into the beginning again.

Road decided to hum the second time through song and she sat at the end of the couch where Allen's head laid and she rubbed his shoulder to try and get him to relax more.

Jasdero and David came back with a blanket each (Jasdero actually came back with three) and laid them down on their couch. They picked out a light blue one and they laid it over Allen.

Jasdero asked him, "How's that, hee hee?" the twins stood back a little and looked over Allen with everyone else. They both started to hum the harmony of the song. These were the true colors of Noah being displayed: all they cared about was just looking after one another.

Allen cocooned himself in the blanket and continued to shake. He was freezing, but the blanket did help. It was warm and soft, a lot like the one in his room back at the Order. He felt a pang of homesickness for the Black Order--for home.

He felt some pain again, but it was dying down. He hoped it would be all over soon. He closed his eyes and drifted off to asleep.

Tyki put his finger up to shush everyone and he pointed at Allen to show that he was out like a light. "We should let him be now," Tyki whispered to the group. "I'll stay here and watch over him to make sure he doesn't have another episode."

Road nodded her head with a smile and bent over and kissed Allen on the forehead. "Pleasant dreams, Allen-kun." She left the room on tiptoe

Jasdero and David both placed a gentle hand on Allen's shoulder and whispered in unison, "Sleep well, Nii-san." Then they too strolled out of the room quietly.

Tyki simply nodded and then began to play softly on the piano _Fantasy on Sleepers Wake_ to keep Allen calm, seeing as their melodies were keeping the pain away. While he was playing, his stomach began to gurgle. _Damn_, he thought to himself as he continued to play_, I haven't had breakfast yet and now its almost time for lunch..._

Allen felt the others touch him. It felt familiar, how Road kissed his forehead and the twins patted his shoulder. It reminded him of something--something close to him... But what was it...?

"Mana," Allen muttered in his sleep. That was who everything reminded him of. It was like a family. It was the way the Black Order had made him feel. It made him smile, despite himself. Everything just felt right, somehow.

A level two Akuma came into the room with a sandwich for Tyki on a silver platter and set it down on the piano quietly. "Thank you" he whispered. Tyki played with his right hand a simple tune, he began to eat with his left.

Tyki looked down at Allen curiously as he was mumbling in his sleep_. Well it doesn't seem like he's in pain_, he thought to himself as he continued to eat_, but that name...I'm almost positive I've heard that name somewhere before..._ He shrugged. He'd remember eventually.

* * *

Lenalee was crying softly. Allen had just been taken, and she didn't know what to do. She felt lost. They had to do something, but what? What could they possibly do?

Lavi looked over at Lenalee and stared. Was there anything that any of them could do to save Allen? He doubted it.

Slowly, Lavi closed the window and walked over to Lenalee. He set his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. "Lenalee, we have to go after him. They had to have gone into the 15th's Ark, right? That's where the Noah reside." Lavi shuddered at the thought of seeing every Noah, all at once, with Allen by their side. "Our only problem is where, and how we're going to get there."

At this point, Kanda didn't care for Allen so much. His only concern was going after the Noah, and figuring out why Allen was chosen. Kanda turned away from the two of them and headed for the door. He then stopped suddenly, and said, without turning his head, "Go talk with Komui. He might know how to get you two in there."

Lenalee froze. "If we tell Komui... What if Lvellie finds out?! We'd all be in a lot of trouble. Maybe even tried for heresy..." She didn't want to put her brother through that. She remembered how he'd reacted when she'd suggested having her Innocence planted into her by Hevlaska when Lulubelle had attacked. "We probably... wouldn't survive is Lvellie discovers what happened..."

Lavi let go of Lenalee and sat down on Allen's bed. "Yeah. If they find out, they'll be against Allen and they'll kill him, even if he was still human."

Lavi didn't know what to do, or who to go to. They could go ask Bookman, but what could he do? Then again... he was Bookman.

But then again, Kanda was right—Komui would have some idea of how to find the 15th's Ark. Question was: How will they ask him without Lvellie finding out.

Or maybe...

"Lenalee, do you think there would be a door that led to the 15th's Ark inside the 14th's Ark?"

"That's... a possibility..." Lenalee admitted. She took her Dark Boots from the floor and tossed Lavi's hammer back to him. "We'd have to look without the others finding out, though."

Lavi caught his hammer and looked down at it. Getting inside the ark would be a challenge if they weren't going to get caught. They would have to do it when the Science Department is either too busy to even notice them, or during their break.

"Lenalee, do you know if the Science Department is working with the Ark at night? I'm sure they have guards or something, but still... There has to be some point in time when there isn't anyone looking after the Ark, right?"

Lenalee thought a moment. "I think they're studying it all the time anymore. Lvellie's pushing for the department to finish their studying so we can use it without needing Allen." She frowned at the thought. "We have to find a way in... I know!" She clapped her hands together. "What if we release Komulin V?" Her brother had recently completed yet another Komulin, but it was hidden away from the rest of the Science Department. She only knew about it because she'd stumbled upon it.

Lavi's eye twitched as the word "Komulin" was spoken. He remembered the last time Komui had had made a Komulin. It went out of control. All of the Komulins did, eventually.

But in this case, it was a good thing.

Lavi stood up and walked toward the open door. He quickly closed it and turned around to face Lenalee. "That might actually work." Lavi nodded, and tried to smile, but couldn't. He didn't know how to smile at the moment. How could he smile, knowing that Allen was now their enemy?

"Alright, Lenalee. Should we go let it lose now, or later at night?" Of course, they both wanted to go let it out now, but they also knew better than to go ahead and work without a plan. The main thing they needed for that plan though was Time.

"We need to plan everything exactly," Lenalee said. "Komui programmed Komulin V to listen to me. He got sick of me destroying them all." She managed a grin. "Never thought the fail safe would come in handy like this."

Lavi nodded then sat back down on the bed. He patted next to him, hoping that Lenalee would sit with him. "I know. I was thinking that we could have one us--most likely me--go out before Komulin V and start saying that it's out of control, again. Then in the middle of that sentance, you could have it go into the lab--" Lavi stopped. "On second thought... everyone would probably want me to stick around with them and destroy it for them..."

Lavi shook his head and said, "Er... never mind that idea. You can send Komulin V out where the Ark's entrance is, and until people start going crazy and start running around in a panic, you and I could hide in the background somewhere.

"Then, when people do start running around in a panic, you and I could run over onto the Ark." Lavi folded his hands and rested his chin on top of them. He thought the plan through his head slowly, making sure that it would work. So far, it seemed like it would.

"Or maybe, just to make it quicker, you could activate your Innocence and fly us into the Ark. Yes, that would go much quicker that way."

Lavi lifted his chin and turned to face Lenalee. "What do you think?"

Lenalee nodded. "I like the idea, but I shouldn't use my Innocence. The light might attract unwanted attention." She frowned. "Of course, someone might see us on the ground, too... I guess we'll have to use the Dark Boots.

"I'll tell Komulin ahead of time to stop once we get on the Ark. That way, no one will get hurt. Kanda, can I trust you to break Komulin after we escape?"

Kanda turned his head and looked at Lenalee. It looked as if she was pleading. "Fine, but only because I hate those stupid robots that your brother makes. They never work well anyway." Besides, Kanda would be happy to use Mugen to destroy such a useless creation.

Lavi attempted to grin at Kanda, and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right in a way. Thanks." Lavi then stood up at walked toward the door. He turned around and waved for Kanda and Lenalee to follow. "C'mon, take us to the Komulin V, Lenalee."


	3. Sadness

**Chapter 3**

Time passed and Lavi and Lenalee brought out Komulin V without anyone noticing--besides Kanda that is. The three of them walked down to the main floor and hid inside a rarely used storage room (why was it there, no one knew).

Lavi eyed Kanda and thought, _I wonder why he's helping us... He probably just wants to use his sword to kill something. _Lavi shrugged slightly, then peaked outside of the storage room. There were so many researchers and other people around, all working on and testing something about the ark.

Lavi closed the door again and turned to face Lenalee. In a soft, quiet tone, he said, "Alright, there's a lot of people out there. There's a pretty good chance that we'll be caught going in, but you're going to have Komulin V chase them away from the entrance, right?" Lavi and surprisingly Kanda were staring at Lenalee, waiting for an answer.

"We'll have to hope for the best," Lenalee said. "Komulin V, I want you to chase the researchers away from the Ark's entrance so that Lavi and I can get on. Once we do, have a convincing battle with Kanda, but don't hurt anyone!"

The Komulin repeated the command. She knew that the robot wasn't going to make a mistake. "Good. On three. One... Two... Three!"

Komulin rushed out and started causing a ruckus. "Ready? Come on!" She grabbed Lavi's arm, activated her Innocence, and launched them both straight to the Ark's door. They barreled through into the town beyond.

Kanda watched as Lenalee and Lavi took off flying towards the Ark. Lucky for them, no one seemed to really notice. Not only that, the Komulin V was doing just as it was told. This surprised Kanda quite a bit.

Kanda continued to watch Komulin V run around, chasing various researchers around. Kanda wondered if he should go in and destroy the thing yet. He thought yes.

Kanda stepped out of the storage closet and walked up next to the Komulin. He then pulled out Mugen and activated his Innocence. "Isn't there any of you Komulin robots that don't destroy things?"

Komulin V looked down at Kanda. It got into battle position and started to attack. Kanda then began to dodge. Right away, he knew that Komulin V was going to put up a convincing fight, just as Lenalee said. Quietly, Kanda whispered to himself, "For once, nice job, Komui. Nice job. Too bad it's going to get destroyed." Kanda grinned slightly, and continued to dodge Komulin V's attacks.

Neither side was making much progress in the fight. In a way, this was a good thing for Lavi and Lenalee, but it was an overly annoying thing for Kanda. He dodged one of the attacks again, and landed near the Ark's entrance. At the corner of his eye, he saw Lvellie walk inside the Ark. Honestly, it didn't seem like he was trying to be unseen. How did he even see them? They went so fast.

Kanda then jumped high into the air, landing on Komulin's head. He then brought Mugen high over his head, and plunged it into Komulin. The attack worked. Komulin started slowing down, and didn't move much.

"Hmm..." Kanda then looked down at the Ark's entrance once more, seeing no one around it, or in the general area for that matter. He jumped down from Komulin V's head and ran into the 14th's Ark.

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the ark, Lenalee dusted herself off a bit. "We need to find the door right away. We don't have long before Komui or Lvellie notice what's going on."

Lavi nodded and started looking around, from door to door. There were so many. How could they possibly find a door that lead to the 15th's Ark? Was there even a door that lead to the 15th's Ark? Slim chance that there was, really. But they had to try.

Minutes passed--still no door. They'd already gone through one section of the city. Lavi looked at the center of the city, and gasped. He looked at Lenalee, and said, "What's the chance that it'll be in the center of the Ark, or in that room with the piano?"

"I think it's very likely it's there," Lenalee said. "Let's look there first!" She grabbed Lavi and sprang toward the building. It didn't take them long at the speed she was going.

She thrust open the door that led to the Piano room. She glanced around. There weren't any doors except for the one they'd come through.

Lavi looked all over the room, for something. Anything! There was none. "Damn it...." Lavi then turned to Lenalee. His face was expressionless, but on the inside, he was burning from rage and sadness. "Lenalee, if there isn't anything here, do you think that there would be a door anywhere on this ark?"

Honestly, Lavi didn't think there would be. He never really did from the start. All he wanted was to try for anything possible. And at the time, the 14th's Ark seemed like the best place to go, even though there was no real hope at all.

Did Lenalee think the same thing? Probably not.

"Well, releasing Komulin to sneak onto the Ark. What's happened?" Lvellie smiled a smile that could make children cry. He squeezed Lenalee's shoulder, making her flinch. "Where's Walker?"

Lenalee froze. They were busted. There was no way they could keep Allen's condition hidden now.

_How'd he get here so fast?!_ Lavi froze just as Lenalee did. They were in fact busted and had to speak the truth.

Lavi bowed his head in shame, letting his bangs hide his eyes. He looked away from Lvellie's gaze and said, "Allen's been taken by Tyki Mikk, a Noah. We tried our best to stop him, but he dragged us through the floor, and our weapons were still in Allen's room. Lenalee and I ran back up the stairs to get Allen out of there, but the door was locked. By the time we actually got in, they were gone."

Lavi left out the fact that Allen has turned into a Noah. He was praying to God in his head that Lvellie would not ask why a Noah has taken Allen. But deep down inside, he knew that his praying was hopeless.

Lvellie raised an eyebrow. "And why did the Noah take Walker?" he asked.

Lenalee mentally cursed their luck. "Because... because..." Lenalee didn't want to answer. She'd hoped they could avoid it, but... What else could they do? "It's because Allen's..." But she couldn't do it. She couldn't tell Lvellie.

Lavi lifted his head slightly so he could see Lenalee's face. She was frightened, and so was he. There was no way either of them could tell Lvellie the truth. Lavi had to make something up at the spot. But what...?

Suddenly, it popped into his head. Lavi stepped up, closer to Lvellie, and moved Lenalee aside. Lavi lifted his head and looked straight into Lvellie's eyes. He prayed silently,_ Please let this be convincing..._

Lavi then rushed to say, "It's because Allen's the only one who can control the 14th's Ark. The Noah and the Earl's original plan was to destroy this ark, but couldn't because of Allen. So now they're probably going to try to get Allen to destroy it."

Of course, Lavi just came up with that at the spot. But to him, it seemed like it took him a good few hours. To make it seem more convincing though, Lavi turned to Lenalee.

"Right, Lenalee?" Hopefully, she would understand and go along with his plan. Lavi wasn't going to even dare to wink or show any signs of help. Only in his head was he screaming for a way out of this mess.

Lenalee nodded quickly. "It's the only explanation! I mean, the only way the Earl can take the ark back from us is if Allen moves it or destroys it for him."

Lvellie frowned. "So, you're going to propose a rescue mission now, correct?" Lenalee froze, and he chuckled. "You really expect me to allow that? We'll just post guards in front of this room so that Allen can't get here, even with the Earl's help." His smile darkened. "We'll have the Order on the look out and have him killed when we see him next.

"No!" Lenalee shouted. "You can't do that! Allen's still an exorcist! You can't!"

"If he was kidnapped so easily, we can almost guarantee it will happen again." Lvellie turned to leave. "You will both be under constant watch so you don't pull a stunt like this again."

Lenalee collapsed onto the couch in the room and buried her face. "We've just made things worse," she sobbed.

Lavi followed Lenalee with his eyes. _How could Lvellie do this to us? We have to tell, or someone! But if we tell him the truth now, we'll be in even more trouble. Should... should Lenalee and I run for it? Maybe. _Lavi then turned around to face Lvellie, who was walking out the door.

"Wait! Please, can't you let Lenalee and I go after Allen? All we need to know is where the 15th's Ark is, and we can rush inside and get him." Lavi knew it was hopeless. But... he had to lie. For Lenalee and Allen's sake.

He bent his head down once again, so his eyes could not be seen. _What have I done...?_

Lvellie paused and looked at Lavi. "It would be a waste. This is a war, and you don't risk losing simply to save one person. You will stay here. That is an order!"

Lenalee was about to reply, but stopped when Lvellie's icy gaze fell on her. "You are to kill Allen Walker if you see him again," he commanded.

Lavi looked up at Lvellie, frightened. "But you can't possibly--" Lavi stopped. There was no point in trying. He turned towards Lenalee. He then looked down at the depressed girl and muttered, just loud enough for Lvellie to hear. "....Fine."

_He can't possibly believe that Lenalee and I would actually kill Allen,_ Lavi thought._ Noah or not... Well for now, I hope he does believe me because as soon as he's gone, Lenalee and I will most likely have to make a run for it. _Lavi sat down next to Lenalee.

* * *

Kanda looked around as he walked through the streets of the strange city. _Damn, I hate this place... _Kanda thought to himself.

Lvellie was no where to be seen, but Kanda knew he was in the ark somewhere. But where...?

He looked up at the center of the city where the piano room seemed to be. Knowing how Lenalee and Lavi thought, they most likely went there first. And there, of course, was where Lvellie must have gone as well.

Kanda then jumped up onto a random roof and faced the center. That was his next destination.

* * *

Once Lvellie was gone, Lenalee stood. "We have to find Allen before the others do!" she said. She looked at Lavi. "We have Timcanpy! Tim'll be able to find Allen!" She nodded to herself. She held her hand out for Lavi to take. "Are you with me on this one?"

Lavi stood back up next to her. He winked and gave her a thumbs up as he said, "Please, I was going to have you and I run for it as soon as we knew he was gone."

Lavi then looked down as reached for his hammer and then had it grow to a size that they could ride on. "If Timcanpy's going to show us the way, I think it would be easier to ride my hammer." Honestly, Lavi didn't care how they reached Allen. He just wanted to get there safe, and quickly.

Lenalee nodded. "Let's get off the ark first. Once we're in the clear, we'll start our search."

They rushed off the ark and when no one was looking, Lenalee asked, "Timcanpy, where's Allen? Please, show us where he is now."

* * *

Kanda continued to head for the center of the city, but stopped when he saw Lavi and Lenalee flying over him. Kanda was getting sick of following them around. He wasn't even completely sure why he was in there in the first place.

"This is wasting my time. I'm going to head back to my room to meditate." Kanda then turned back toward the exit and hurried away.

* * *

All of that day and throughout the night, Tyki watched over Allen as he slept. Allen had a few spouts of pain but it was nothing a quick tune couldn't calm. The other Noah and the Earl came to visit him throughout the day--Lulubelle even came to see him--but Tyki made sure that he wasn't disturbed in his sleep.

The next morning Tyki was on the other couch with his top hat still by the piano. Candy wrappers littered the floor around where he was asleep in an upright position. Since he couldn't smoke around Allen and would get fidgety once an hour, he was almost constantly sucking on candy to keep his nerves down. Tyki had just passed out a few hours ago and was out like a light, dreaming of Allen playing cards with him and his mining buddies, this time the end result being Allen stripped down to his boxers. Everyone was having a good laugh about it.

Allen, meanwhile, was wide-awake. He felt sore all over, but it was no worse than returning from a mission with the pulp beaten out of him by Akuma. He stretched and cringed when his muscles screamed in complaint. _Okay, I'm not quite ready to be up and about,_ he thought.

He got up anyway and waved a hand in front of Tyki's face. There was no response. _Guess I can't ask about breakfast._ He grinned and glanced around for a marker or a pen. He saw one on the table next to a few papers. Even before he uncapped the pen, he had a nagging feeling. He had to let his friends know he was okay. Noah or not, Allen knew that Lavi and Lenalee were worried sick about him.

After scribbling a quick note of "I'm okay. Don't worry about me," Allen opened the door in the parlor. The sun was already bright in the ark--if it had ever set, that is.

Allen glanced around and saw an Akuma in a maid uniform a few feet away. He recognized it instantly as a Level 2. Somehow, his eye didn't react, but it didn't matter at the moment. "Hey! Akuma!" he hissed.

The Akuma looked over at Allen, surprised. "Master Noah, shouldn't you be resting? In your condition--"

"Never mind that," Allen said. He thrust the note into the Akuma's hands. "Deliver this message to the exorcists Lenalee and Lavi. Don't tell anyone about it, either--not even the Earl. And don't read it either!" he cried when the Akuma went to read the note.

The Akuma nodded, confused. "Lenalee is the young female exorcist and Lavi is Bookman Jr., right?" The Akuma turned and left before Allen could reply. It didn't need confirmation because it already knew. Akuma were able to understand commands because they knew exactly what the Noah wanted them to know. It was how the Earl had created them, after all.

Allen watched the Akuma leave and went back into the parlor. He then grinned evilly as he drew on Tyki's face. Once he was finished drawing mustaches and other silly things on the sleeping Noah's face, he sat back on the couch and waited for Tyki to wake up. He wasn't about to wake the person who'd stayed up and watched over him all night, after all.

It was only a few hours after Tyki had passed out when a ray of light caught his eye when Allen opened he door. The light was enough to stir him out of a deep slumber, but he still didn't feel like getting up. A little bit afterwards he felt something run across his upper lip and around his eyes. Tyki frowned in his sleep and he thought to himself, _That little...well at least he's able to get up and walk around a little._

"Very funny Allen." Tyki said to Allen in a monotone voice while his eyes were still closed. The ink seemed to be absorbed by his skin but actually he let it phase through him and the sofa. He opened his eyes and looked at his new brother and smirked, "How're you feeling?" he asked. Tyki knew he couldn't be too much better but he wanted to hear it from Allen.

"A little achy, I guess," Allen replied. He couldn't help but grin. "I'm starving, too. When do we eat? I can't wait to stuff myself!" The only thing he'd had yesterday was a piece of hard candy, after all.

He glanced around. The others didn't seem to be up yet. If they were, they weren't in the parlor. "Where're the others?" Allen asked. He hoped they hadn't seen him passing that note along . He knew the Akuma wouldn't blab because he'd told it not to, but if someone had seen... he'd have a really hard time explaining that one.

Tyki grabbed one of the last pieces of candy from the bowl, unwrapped it, and started to suck on it. He still was fidgety from not being able to smoke. As he began playing with the candy in his mouth, he replied, "Everyone else is off doing there own thing at the moment. The Earl is still sleeping, Roads probably either still dreaming or playing around with Lero and Jasdevi just keep to themselves in their own room. We'll know when breakfast is ready when one of the Akuma maids come around to announce its served. We don't eat until the Earl is awake and he's good and ready to eat, which is usually around 10:30ish. Speaking of which..." Tyki grabbed a bell that was sitting on the coffee table and rang it. Not long after, an Akuma maid appeared and Tyki asked it, "Can You refill Skin's bowl? I had quite a sweet tooth yesterday."

The Akuma nodded its head and left with the bowl. Allen was surprised his eye didn't react to this Akuma either.

Tyki waited for the door to shut when he started up again, "It's good to hear you're better today, but I highly doubt that the stigma has run its course fully... Does you're arm feel any different today?"

Allen blinked. "My... arm?" He pulled looked at his left hand.

It still moved, albeit a little more slowly than he was used to. It hurt as much as the rest of him, so he didn't think much of it when he'd woken up. The cross made of Innocence that was imbedded in the back of his hand seemed to have dulled--it was no longer the shimmering green it had been for so long. It seemed to have turned a pulsing red.

Allen closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _Activate_, he thought. His arm reacted and the Crown Clown did appear, but in a new form.

The new Crown Clown was all black except for his Claw Edge, which was pure white. It looked as if it had flipped colors. It also felt cold. None of the once familiar warmth remained to the invocation.

"What is this...?" Allen asked.

Tyki jumped out of his chair and activated his white cross blades at the sight of his Innocence. However Tyki looked at it a second time and realized that it was different. His blades melded back into Tease that fluttered about the room. Tyki went over to examine Allen's Innocence. Tyki hesitantly reached out towards Allen's left wrist and eventually he grabbed it. After a few moments, Tyki finally said, "This is so strange... I can tell it's still Innocence because I can't phase through it... but... it's not hurting me."

Tyki continues to hold Allen's arm and he held his chin in thought. _Well_, he thought, _he did have a few spasms during the night... but I couldn't tell what was happening to him... Maybe the stigma did run its course_.

"I think..." Tyki said at last, "that your Innocence has adapted to the Noah gene... I mean, it's changed before, thanks to me--which I still am sorry for, by the way. I think it's changed again but this time...it reversed itself." Tyki looked at the glow of his arm, which was less like green and more like red. "If a normal exorcist's Innocence is green, than this Innocence is red... like Red Innocence."

Tyki finally released Allen's arm and said, "Why don't we wait one more day before you try to activate your arm again? I'm still questioning if the Stigma has run its full course. This could be a temporary phase that might change when the stigma has settled in completely."

Tyki sat back down and then remembered Allen's sleep talk from the night before and was curious. After Allen deactivated his arm, Tyki asked in an awkward voice, "Allen, I'm not sure how personal this question might be...but who's Mana?" Tyki looked at Allen with serious but not intense eyes as he waited for an answer.

"Eh? Mana was..." Allen thought for a moment. Did he have to hide that from Tyki? He decided it didn't matter if Tyki and the other Noah knew the truth. "Mana was my father--er--foster father. When he died, I tried to bring him back as an Akuma and got cursed." Allen sat back down on the couch and felt tears in his eyes, which he stubbornly rubbed away. He wasn't about to let Tyki see him cry. "I guess he was the reason I became an exorcist."

The Akuma came back and set the bowl on the table, bowed once for each Allen and Tyki and then left just as quickly. Again, Allen's eye didn't react to it.

"I thought this was going to be a touchy subject." Tyki grabbed another piece of candy and placed it in Allen's hand. "Here, candy makes everything better." he sat back down and thought about what Allen said. He was turned into an Akuma huh... Tyki thoughts churned through his head when he finally thought of a possible problem. "Say Allen... do you remember what he looked like?"

"He had black hair and was a lot taller than I was." Allen thought harder. "I can't remember his face," Allen said, and the realization shocked him. "Why... why can't I remember?!" Everything swirled around him again--another attack. It was the worst pain he'd ever experienced, but whether it was from the stigma or the realization that his father was but a faded memory, Allen didn't know. He curled up on the couch and felt the tears he'd been holding back stream from his eyes.

Tyki pondered about it and he thought to himself, _Black hair... did he have black hair?...wow, now I can't remember either... _"I was just curious because you-" Tyki started but he was cut off when Allen started going into another cycle. Tyki went over to him quickly and forced Allen to lay out flat. It was better for him to lie flat instead of curling up because the stigma was able to settle easier when he was lying out. Tyki held his head down gently to keep him from moving so much and he started singing again.

One of the Tease went over and rang the bell. Soon enough the Akuma came into the room again. Tyki took a small break in his song to yell at it, "Go get Road and Jasdevi, I need help down here!" Tyki returned back to the lullaby quickly as he held down Allen to control his thrashing, hoping he'd stop soon.

The song wasn't enough. Allen's body felt like it was on fire and under a huge amount of pressure. Everything was spinning again.

Allen could barely feel Tyki forcing him to lie straight. He didn't see the Akuma run in at the sound of the bell. Everything was buried under the pain.

The Earl awoke hearing noise. He slowly got up and walked to the room Tyki and Allen were in. Seeing what Tyki was trying to do, the Earl yawned and walked to the piano and sat down. Slowly, he stretched and laid his fingers on the keys and started playing the song. "It too early for this," the Earl muttered before yawning again.

Tyki noticed the Earl come in. Tyki said to him, "I'm sorry, Earl, I didn't mean to wake you. However this is what it takes to obtain one of your children."

Jasdero and David kicked open the door and automatically screamed with their guns pointed at each other, "What's the fuss about?" The two of them saw Allen cringing again in pain and also realized the song wasn't doing much good. They started running around screaming, "Ahhhh! What's wrong with him? What do we do?!?"

Tyki quit singing as he noticed it wasn't working and he said to the twins, "We need to find another alternative to numb Allen's pain."

Jasdero and David looked at each other and repeated, "Numb?" They thought about it for a quick second, and it clicked in both of their minds. Jasdero snickered.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" David asked his twin.

Jasdero snickered again and nodded his head.

The two of them jumped away from each other and pointed their guns in the air as a blue bullet materialized in both of their guns. "Blue bomb!" they both shouted as they fired their guns at the ceiling. Their shots collided and caused a drop in the room temperature and snow to fall. Their hopes were that the coldness of the room would numb Allen's body.

"Not a bad idea," Tyki stated in an irritated tone as snow began to accumulate on his shoulders, "but not the best way to implement it."

Just then, Road's door materialized and Road came out immediately asking, "What's wrong?" She noticed the snow and the drop ion temperature. She crossed her arms and asked, "And why is it cold in here?"

She looked down at Allen, who was still thrashing as the Earl played the song. She came over to Allen and said, "Stand aside," to Tyki as she shooed him away. She held Allen's head by the temples and went into a meditative state. Road entered his mind and began to shut off some of the pain receptors. Then she altered his thoughts so that he wasn't thinking about the pain so much.

Roads had entered his thoughts and in her dream world, she ran up to Allen and hugged him and said to his dream self, "It's all right Allen... I'm here to make you feel better."

The dream version of Allen looked up, tears streaming down his cheeks. In his dream, he was a small child, about the age he was when he was cursed.

Then the Noah Allen grabbed Road's shoulder and forced her to look him in the eye. "Don't come here again," Noah Allen said, stroking her cheek. "We don't like people intruding on our mind like this." His serious expression relaxed a little. "We appreciate your coming here to help, but just stick with the song. This is just more pain for Allen."

Road looked up at the Dream Noah with a surprised face and then back at the sobbing younger Allen. _So he's got two dreamselves_, she thought to herself_. Allen-kun is more interesting than I thought_. She gently grabbed the hand stroking her check and held it close to her face. "The song wasn't working, so I had to do this... but I'll just stick to just cutting off his pain receptors." Road let go of the Dream Noah's hand carefully, walked passed him, turned around and said with a wink, "Just make sure you take good care of him, okay handsome?"

With that, dream Road faded from Allen's mind.

Even after Road had left Allen's dream, Allen continued dreaming. Child Allen looked up at the Noah and sobbed, "Leave me alone!"

Noah Allen squatted down so that he could look in child Allen's eyes. He patted child Allen's head just as Mana had always done. "It hurts, doesn't it? To be a Noah and to forget Mana at the same time. It's my memories doing it. As my memories get stronger, your memories start to vanish. It will take time, but eventually you'll cease to be you."

The scene started fading around him as he woke up.

* * *

Road came out of her meditative state in the real world. She opened her eyes to look down at the calm figure of Allen, almost thinking it was the Dream Noah she'd just met. She smiled at the sleeping body and said to everyone else as she stroked Allen's forehead and cheek as the Dream Noah had done to her, "He'll be all right. I temporarily shut down his pain receptors. He should be fine for a few hours at least."

Allen woke up soon after she said that. He sat up and wiped away the tears in his eyes. He'd been crying, even in his sleep.

She smiled, grabbed one of the blankets off of the back of the sofa, and sat down where Allen's back was. She rubbed his shoulders and said to him, "It's all right Allen-kun. We know it hurts, but that's why we're here." She held the blanket up to him and said, "Is it too cold in here?"

"Oye we did that to help him!" Jasdero and David said in unison. They both crossed their arms and shivered at the same time.

"Yeah, but your plan worked a little too well," Tyki said as he brushed the snow off his shoulder. "Well, now that the Earls up, we can eat breakfast soon Allen." Tyki grabbed his hat and walked towards the door. "It's too cold in here for me."

It was true that he wanted to get out of the cold room, but what Tyki really needed was a smoke. Once he was outside on the cobble stone street, he quickly pulled out a cigarette and a match and lit up. He inhaled his cig deeply and he said to himself, "I'm going to have to quit if I have to live with him like this..."

"I'm not really hungry now," Allen said. He felt sick to his stomach. He wasn't sure if it was because of his attack or not having eaten for a few days or that he couldn't remember things very well. Allen was willing to bet his Innocence that it was the last of the three probabilities. The other "him" had told him that he was disappearing. That would shock anyone.

Allen put on a false smile. "You guys can go eat without me. I think I'll just hang around here and read or something."

Road smiled sympathetically for Allen behind his back and then said to the others. "Go on without me, as well. I'll take Tyki's job today and watch over Allen. I'll tell Tyki that too once he's done smoking." Road knew the real reason Tyki left the room.

The twins looked at each other, and then David said, "All righty then. Take good care of Oto-kun."

Jasdero then said to the Earl, "We'll be waiting in the dinning room." They left through the other door.

Allen watched the others leave. Once they were gone, he stood up shakily and sat down at the piano. It was a beautiful instrument, but a little different than the one he'd played on the Ark. This one was the same shape, but was black instead of white. He doubted it was the one that controlled the Earl's ark. That one would probably be hidden where he wouldn't be able to get at it. "Do you mind if I play it a bit?" Allen asked Road.

Road watched with worrying anticipation of how Allen could move after that last cycle. She sighed to herself once he was able to sit down at the piano without stumbling or falling. When he asked her about playing, she smiled joyfully and said, "Of course Allen-kun; Mi casa es su casa."

She then positioned herself more comfortably on the couch as she waited for Allen to start playing. She was lying on he stomach as she kept her head up with her right hand and kicked her feet at a slow pace in anticipation. All and all, Road was trying to make herself look cute and attractive for Allen, in hopes that would inspire him to play better.

Allen took a deep breath and started. One note, then the next. The song started out slow, but then went up to speed. Allen didn't sing the first time through, but repeated the song a second time.

"_Soshite bouya wa nemuri ni tsuite  
Ikizuku haino na kano hono o  
Hitotsu, futatsu to..._"

He sang it quietly. He wasn't as good at singing as Road. In fact, he thought it sounded off key to the piano even though he was dead on.

Road listened quietly as Allen played. He was so much better than Tyki in her opinion. Tyki was good, but Allen's version seemed to flow better than his. Road noticed that Allen was attempting to sing, but she could barely hear him from where she sat. She tried to scoot up closer to the piano and now crossed her arms over the armrest of the sofa and rested her chin over them. He was a little shaky with the singing, but she thought to herself_, In due time he'll learn to sing out, but until then I guess I guess I have to encourage him._

Outside, Tyki heard the piano as he stamped out the burning butt of his cigarette. He cracked the door open and he saw that Allen was at the piano playing and Road was watching him with much interest.

_Don't worry about him, Tyk,i_ Road said to Tyki telepathically. _I'll watch over him today, you go and have breakfast with everyone else._

Tyki smiled, silently closed the door and started to walk down the cobble stone street to find the door that led to the dinning room. "Well, that's kind of her to give me the day off," he said to himself as he strolled down the street, "but I really think that she wants some... private time with Allen."

"Sing out, Allen-kun," Road said encouragingly as he played. "You're very good at it, and it helps your voice if you don't try to sing so softly."

Allen stopped playing and looked at Road. "S-sing out?" he repeated. "I'm not all that great! I think I'm really bad at it." He glanced back at the piano keys. It wasn't really him, either. It was the 14th's memories that were playing.

"Awww... but I think you're really good, Allen-kun," Road said in almost a disappointed tone as she now propped herself over the back of the couch as to get even closer to Allen. She tilted her head to one side and looked up at Allen with puppy dog eyes and a smirk and added, "I can help you sing better, if you want me to."

Allen smiled. "Thanks." And so they sang together.

When Allen could hardly sit up any more Road helped him to lie down on the sofa. Road noticed an improvement on his singing (or at least more confidence) and she was happy with his progress. Honestly, Road was just happy that she was able to be with Allen for this amount of time without having the intensity build up of a fight. She sat down next to him on the edge of the sofa and looked down at him with a soothing gaze.

By that time, even Allen could hear the improvement in his singing. He wasn't as quiet, and he could hear the pitch to compare with the piano he played. He grinned as he lay on the couch. "Well, that was fun."

Road leaned in a little from where she sat so she could reach Allen's face and gently stroked his cheek. "I'm glad you're having some sort of fun here. I know things are confusing at the moment, but I hope, in time, you become accustomed to living h-"

Road was cut off when she lost her balance trying to lean over to reach Allen's face. Road was now half on the couch and half on top of Allen. She reached to the other side of him to push herself up and looked down at Allen while their faces were only inches apart from each other. She blushed a little and said to him in a soft apologetic voice, "I'm sorry, Allen-kun, I slipped. Either way," she was all fluttered now being that close to Allen, and her speech was getting hazy yet anxious, "I hope...you learn... to like...living...here...with...us..."

Allen blushed as well. "Th-thanks," he managed to stutter. Road was so close. So very close... He felt himself turning an even deeper shade of crimson when he heard the doorknob turn.

Tyki was on the other side of the door, balancing a tray of food in his one hand. _Allen might not be hungry now but he will be eventually_, Tyki thought to himself as he turned the door handle, _and Road hasn't eaten yet either_. Tyki opened the door and saw that Road was on top of Allen in a very compromising position. Almost immediately he said in a calm voice, "I'll come back later." He shut the door on the two of them. He put his back up against the door and muttered to himself, "God Road, I didn't think you'd go for him that soon."

Road turned a bright shade of pink as Tyki had a peek at the two of them in that position. She pushed herself away from Allen and ran her hand through her hair in embarrassment. "I apologize... for him..." she stuttered as she blushed more. "I didn't think... he'd finish breakfast... so quickly..." She was all embarrassed, but now she was slightly disappointed that she missed an opportunity. Road thought how she could turn the situation around but now it was too awkward after Tyki came in.

Allen stood and went to the door. He opened it and poked his head out. He was still bright red when he said, "Tyki, it's not what you think. Road—er—fell. On top of me. By accident. I think." He wasn't sure if it had been an accident that Road had fallen on him. This was Road, after all.

That's when he saw the food in Tyki's hands and felt his stomach growl. Grinning, he snatched a slice of toast.

Tyki smiled at Allen, almost laughing and said to him, "Relax, I trust you. It's her I question." He watched as Allen snatched a piece of Toast from his tray and then handed the tray to Allen. "Don't just steal from it, take the whole thing. Its breakfast for both you and Road."

Once the tray was in Allen's possession he said, "I think I'll wait a little while longer before I pop in again." With that, Tyki walked away as he thought to himself, _I don't think she'll get that far, but then again I didn't think Road would make a move on him until he was actually well._

"Thank you, Tyki!" Allen called after. He went back into the parlor and placed the tray on the small table. "Itadekimasu!" Allen said before chowing down. He was starving, and it was delicious food.

Road pouted for a slight moment when she heard Tyki's comment towards her. Then she smelled the food that Tyki had brought for them. Grinning, she reached for the candle on top of the piano and set it on the table. She lit it with one of Tyki's matches that he left on the coffee table to light the area and to set a slight mood.

When Allen sat down on the sofa and set the tray down, Road scooted in close to Allen, grabbed her plate and began to eat her scrambled eggs at a modest pace to show Allen she was civilized. She then looked over at Allen as he scarfed down his plate at break neck speeds and she thought to herself, _Wow...he eats food like Skin eats candy_. Somehow she found his gorging slightly cute because it was Allen.

Allen was happy about the deliciousness of the food. It was just as good as the food Jerry always made. He hesitated in the middle of his bowl of oatmeal. He felt a pang of homesickness for the Order again, but it wasn't as bad as before. Still, he wondered if everyone had noticed his disappearance yet. _Probably._

As Road continued to eat at a faster pace, she saw that Allen stopped eating. There was a sad expression on his face. _Uh oh_, Road thought to herself, _something's come across him_. Road wanted to do something that would make Allen feel better or at least make him laugh a little. She took the spoon from Allen's bowl, scooped some of the oatmeal, and pretended he was a baby. "Here comes the train, Allen-kun," she said as she played around with it to make it seem like a train on a curvy track. "And now it's coming to the tunnel..." She held the spoon up to Allen's mouth, hoping that he would play along and actually open his mouth.

Allen raised an eyebrow at Road. She was acting weird again. Still, he went along with it, if only to get his spoon back. When she'd stuck the spoon in his mouth, he bit down on it so he could tug it out of her grip and return it to his bowl. "I was just thinking," Allen explained. He knew she'd picked up on his feeling sad a few moments before. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." He smiled, and was surprised to find that he didn't have to fake it.

Road sighed and then said while pouting her lips. She'd been so happy that Allen actually went along with the skit. "I know Allen-kun, but it's my job today to worry about you." There was small bit of oatmeal on the corner of Allen's mouth. Road wiped it away with her index finger and then she sucked her finger to rid it of the oatmeal. "When you make a face like that I can't help but worry that something is upsetting you." Road patted Allen's knee and smiled like a little kid for Allen.

Allen felt himself blush slightly and look away. His heart skipped a beat when she smiled at him. He didn't know why, but it was nice. It just felt right to be sitting there with her by his side. He had no idea why. "Thanks for worrying about me," Allen said.

Road threw her arms around him. "You're most certainly welcome Allen-kun!" She rubbed he cheek against his shoulder for a brief moment and then she let go of him. Road held her fists in her lap excitedly and asked him, "So is there anything you want to do or talk about at the moment?" She really didn't care what they did. She just didn't want to be a stick in the mud like Tyki was yesterday and just have him sleep.

"I'd actually like to look around a bit," Allen said. "I get lost a lot, so the sooner I learn my way around this place, the better." He remembered how long it had taken him to learn his way around the Black Order. Of course, you learn pretty quick when you're constantly being chased by one Komulin or another. "I'd really like to see where I'm going to sleep too. I mean, I can't stay in this room forever, right?"

Road looked up at the ceiling and thought about the possibility of that. "Tyki says that the stigma isn't done circulating through you yet, so it would be bad for you to be walking around too much."

Then an idea came to mind. She stood up and then pressed a finger to Allen's lips and said to him, "Wait right here." Her door appeared on the other side of the room, and she ran through it. Two minutes later she came running back with Lero over her shoulders.

"Road-tama!" the pumpkin umbrella yelled at the young-looking Noah from over her shoulder. "Lero!! What are you doing with me? Put me back!!! Lero!!!!"

"You're just helping me show Allen-kun around." She made him levitate horizontally in front of Allen.

"Allen-kun?!?" he asked angrily. "How dare you bring an-" he looked over at Allen and saw the stigma on his forehead. "Lero! Lero!! HE'S A NOAH?!?!?" He looked down in embarrassment and apologized to Allen. "My bad, Allen-tama, Lero..."

"You shouldn't move around too much, but if Lero could carry you, you won't have to walk," Road explained her plan to Allen with a smile.

The Earl entered the room without Road or Allen noticing and watched Road feed Allen then ran off to get Lero. "Wonderful! That's great, my little Tomboy. Very smart of you to use Lero like that." The Earl smiled. "Now we can show Allen his room that I work so hard on getting ready. Come along my dears." He turned away

"When he get in here?" Allen whispered to Road and Lero. "Sorry about this, Lero," Allen said quickly. He sat down on Lero. It felt strange to be hovering a few feet off the ground like he was. "I won't ride on you again once the stigma's done."

"Trust me Allen-tama," Lero said to him under his breath once he sat on him, "once that Tomboy has ridden you fifty times you tend to get used to passengers, Lero. Besides you're not much heavier than Road-tama Lero."

Road smiled at the sight of Allen riding on Lero for a change and said to the three of them, "C'mon, let's get this show on the road."

Road led Allen all over the ark and showed him various rooms. The number of other parlors, libraries, lounges and piano rooms, the dinning room, the kitchen, the various bathrooms that were all around the Ark and even the Earl's, Tyki's, Lulubelle's, Jasdevi's and her own bedroom just in case he needed them during the night.

During the tour, Tyki joined them and added extra commentary about each room, trying not to bore Allen to death with the whole thing.

The tour ended when they all reached a double door entryway that had silver doorknobs and Jasdero and David were standing in front of them, just itching to open them. "You ready for this Oto-kun?" they both said in unison as they began to open the doors.

"And this, Allen, is your room, " Tyki said as the twins opened the door. "We had it finished while you were sleeping yesterday."

The room was mostly black, just like almost every room on the Ark. However, it had silver strips along the corners of the floor, walls and ceiling to help add a contrast to the room. There was a queen-size bed in the middle of the room that had a black comforter and silver silk sheets. There were black and silver drapes along the edge of the bed that could be drawn in to cut off light. To one side of the room was a black love seat with a number of silver pillows and a door that led to a personal bathroom for Allen, and to the other side was a dark wooden desk with a chair with black velvet seat linings.

Road ran into the room and jumped onto the love seat, which was nice and soft, and waved to Allen. "What do you think?"

Allen's jaw dropped. The room was huge, bigger than his room at the Order, at least. "Wow..." He entered and looked around. He touched the comforter, the desk, everything. "This is amazing. I don't know what to say." He really didn't, either. It was like, for the first time, he was home.

Road, along with everyone else, was pleased that Allen liked his new room. "Well c'mon," she said as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him back over to the bed. She turned him around and sat him down on the bed and said, "Try out your new bed. Its much more comfortable than that couch Tyki made you sleep on."

"You know how hard it is to carry a disabled person?" Tyki said in defense. "Besides, we wanted the room to be finished before we showed it to him and had to have the final color scheme done once we knew who the new Noah was and what kind of colors he liked."

Road giggled and then sat down on the love seat again. "It's all right guys." Road said to the others at the door, "I'll take it from here. You can go back to what you were doing.

The twins were relieved to hear that and waved at Allen as they ran away. Jasdero yelled, "Have fun in you new room, Oto-kun!"

Then David added, "...with Road!"

They both laughed as they ran away, their voices echoing down to nothing.

Tyki tipped his hat for Allen and then guided the Earl out of the room. "All right, Sir. Let's leave the youngens be," he teased.

Road sighed at her family's comments and then asked Allen who was now lying down, "So, Allen, what do you think of the bed?"

"It's really comfy," he said. He hoped that Road couldn't see how red his face had become because of the twins. "I'll have to thank the others for all this, too. You guys have been, so nice to me, even though I was your enemy before." He closed his eyes and said drowsily, "Thanks." Even though he'd slept all the day before, he was still tired. It must have been the stigma causing it. It didn't matter much, though, because he was soon fast asleep.

Road stood up and went over to Allen's bedside with the chair and sat down next to him. "There's no need to thank us." She started stroking his hand as she explained slightly emotionally. "As you know, we Noah are few in number, and all we really have is each other. We're kind to you because you are one of us and even before that you at least peaked our interests and got our attention. As long as you don't try and harm us now, we won't lay a finger on you as to harm you."

Road looked back down at Allen and saw he was now asleep again. She sighed hopelessly as she thought to herself, _Awww...I wanted to talk with him some more._ She smiled down at Allen and then lay on his chest with her arms crossed and her head lying over Allen's heart so she could nap listening to the soothing beat of his heart. _I wonder if this heart yet beats for us Noah... _Road thought as she started to drift into a light slumber,_ let alone... me..._

* * *

A couple notes I'd like to make:

Thanks to Jen Harper, I've realized that "Nii-san" is actually "Older brother" in Japanese. It is now "Oto-kun," or "little brother." ...Correct me if I'm wrong.

"Mi casa es su casa" is Spanish for "My home is your home." I think. I don't speak Spanish. That was all Twilight. :)

Really long chapter. Sorry about that, guys.


	4. The Letter

**Chapter 4**

Timcanpy flew up in front of Lenalee and Lavi. He quickly turned away from them and flew towards the Black Order's exit.

Lavi looked around, making sure no one still wasn't looking. "Hold on tight, Lenalee. I can tell that Timcanpy's just as eager to find Allen as much as we are."

Lavi then quickly took off, following Timcanpy as fast as he could. He then quickly looked over his shoulder at Lenalee and said, "Make sure no one's following us. We don't want to get caught anytime soon--" Lavi stopped as he remembered one thing. His hammer's handle...people could see it. "Lenalee... you think that people would think to follow my hammer's handle...? If so... maybe you should take us..."

He didn't want to ask Lenalee to do such a thing, but this was a crucial decision that had to be made quickly. If not, there was a big possibility that they would be caught.

Lenalee rushed off to her room and grabbed a small box. She returned to Lavi and opened it, revealing quite a bit of money. "I've been saving it for a present to get Allen, but... We'll use it for the trains. We'll get as far as we can on this for train tickets and food, then switch between the Dark Boots and your hammer for travel until we reach Allen. That way, it'll be harder to follow us."

She frowned. "I hope he isn't too far," she added. "I'm not sure where we can get to with this much."

_'What was she planning to get Allen....?'_ Putting that thought aside, Lavi nodded at Lenalee. He then shouted out to Timcanpy, "We're going to ride a train for a bit, so we won't be found so easily. Come back here."

Timcanpy looked behind him at Lavi and Lenalee and flew down towards the nearest train station, with both exorcists following close behind.

They landed on the ground, and Lavi quickly shrunk his hammer back to normal size. Hopefully, no one had actually seen it yet. He looked at Timcanpy, who has resting on Lenalee's shoulder and said, "All right, Tim, do you know which train will get us closer to Allen?"

Timcanpy shook his head (which was his entire body really) and flew toward a train that seemed to be headed towards the Far East. Quickly, Lavi and Lenalee followed him.

Lavi looked down at Lenalee as they were in line for the tickets. "Give me the money, Lenalee. I'll get the tickets." Lenalee nodded and handed the money over to Lavi. "Thanks."

Lavi walked up and paid for two tickets, and then they walked onto the train. They sat towards the back where there weren't many people. Facing Lenalee, Lavi asked, "So, how long do you think it'll take for Lvellie or anyone else to realize that we're gone?"

"Komui's already noticed I'm gone," Lenalee replied as she stared out the window. "He probably noticed ten minutes after we left. By now, the whole Order knows." She smiled ruefully. "This is when it sucks to have a brother with a sister complex." She glanced over at Timcanpy. "Tim, do you know how long until we get to wherever we're going?"

Timcanpy shook his head. He noticed something behind Lenalee and ducked into Lavi's sleeve.

"Excuse me," the woman said. She held out a piece of paper, which Lenalee took. "I was told to give this to the Exorcists Lenalee and Lavi." She bowed and walked away.

Lavi looked at the sheet of paper curiously, then groaned. "Don't tell me that they've already sent out a search party. Your brother's pretty paranoid." He reached over and grabbed the paper. He didn't even think about asking, which showed how curious Lavi really was.

The curious exorcist held the paper up to his face and read it aloud, "I'm okay. Don't worry about me." Lavi's eye widened as he realized whom the letter was from. "Le...Lenalee, this is from Allen! I can't tell you how relieved I am to know that he's oka--" Lavi stopped and then looked at the paper once again.

Softly, he muttered, "Allen's okay...and we shouldn't worry about him...." Sadness overcame Lavi faster than the blink of an eye. "Lenalee...What if Allen doesn't want to come back...?" This thought crushed Lavi. Crushed him to the inner core.

Lenalee read the note as well. Relief washed over her. It felt as if she were holding her breath the entire time. She looked out the window at the passing scenery, but her mind's eye was only on her memories of Allen smiling. "We have to believe Allen wants us to find him unless he says otherwise. That's all we can do."

Lavi nodded slowly and looked out the window. "Yeah...you're probably right." Lavi rested his head against the window for a minute or so. Something came to his mind. He jolted his head up and faced Lenalee. "Say, Lenalee. How do you suppose that woman had this letter...?" Something about this didn't seem right, but it didn't seem wrong either. Lavi had a strong feeling that that woman knew exactly where Allen and the 15th's Ark were.

Lenalee blinked. Lavi had a point. How did that woman have Allen's letter? Then it hit her. "She's an Akuma!" she hissed. "If she's a Noah, she's not one I recognize, and she wouldn't have just handed us the letter without a fight. Allen must have told her to deliver it!" She went to stand, but stopped. _'If we use our Innocence, we'll stick out too much.'_

Lavi reached his arm out and grabbed hold of Lenalee's shoulder. He held her down (in case she would try to get up again), and whispered. "Yes, it most likely is an Akuma, but if it wanted to fight, it would have tried to kill everyone on this train by now. Maybe Allen told the Akuma not to hurt anyone while delivering the letter."

Lavi leaned his head in the aisle and looked in the direction where the Akuma had left. He didn't see any sight of her—er, it—anywhere. Lavi sighed and slowly brought his head back into their little booth. "I--I think maybe we should follow that Akuma. First off, we need to see if it's still on this train. If so, we follow it anywhere it goes, and just to be safe, we keep Timcanpy on the lookout and continue to locate where Allen is. If we're lucky, the Akuma and Tim will be heading in the same direction."

This was it. Hopefully, they made a breaking point. Lenalee should know not to kill this Akuma. It was one of the two keys they had in reaching Allen, and possibly, the best. If there were to be some code or something, there was no way Timcanpy would know it, but the Akuma would, right?

Lenalee nodded so that he knew she knew what Lavi's plan was. "We'll have to find the Akuma first before it gets away." She stood again. "It's not in this car anymore, so it must have gone somewhere else on the train."

Lavi stood up as Lenalee did, and placed Timcanpy on his shoulder. He walked into the aisle and grabbed Lenalee's hand. "C'mon. It went this way after it gave us the letter. Akuma or not, it couldn't have gotten too far."

Lavi led Lenalee to the end of the car they were on. "Hmm...You were right. Onto the next one I guess...." Lavi and Lenalee walked into the next car and continued to search for the Akuma. It didn't seem to be around anywhere.

The two of them headed to the next car and searched harder. "All right, Lenalee, the Akuma has to be on the car somewhere. There aren't any left. So look hard!"

Lenalee scanned the car, only to realize that she hadn't gotten a good look at the Akuma woman. "Lavi, what did she look like again? You have a photographic memory when it comes to this kind of thing." Still searching, she thought, _'It's a good thing Lavi's helping. His being a Bookman will definitely come in handy while searching for Allen.'_

Lavi looked back at Lenalee. "Oh... um... Her hair was shoulder length and black. I believe that she was wearing a blue cloak..." Lavi looked straight ahead, and went through all the previous thoughts and images in his mind. There were so many, so searching for just one made it hard. His eyes widened as he saw the Akuma. "There!"

The Akuma was sitting in the second booth on the right side. Quickly, Lavi ran up the Akuma, dragging Lenalee behind. He stood in the its way, so it couldn't stand. He was about to speak, but stopped. _What am I doing? I can't just come up to an Akuma and say, "Take us to Allen Walker." There's no way it would ever take us to Allen, even if we got down on our knees and begged._

The Akuma looked up. _Shoot,_ it thought. "May I help you, Exorcist-sama?" she asked Lenalee.

"Take us to Allen," she said. "Tell us where he is!"

The Akuma blinked. "You're joking, right? I'm risking my neck already just delivering that message to you for Master Walker." The Akuma thought for a moment. "I could deliver a message to him for you, but... I can't guarantee it's reaching him."

Lenalee raised an eyebrow. "Why are you being so nice?" She was suspicious of the Akuma's offer. "What're you up to?"

The Akuma waved its hands in front of it. "I'm not up to anything!" it said quickly. "Master Walker would love a response."

"Did he say that?"

"Well, not exactly..." the Akuma muttered, shifting in its seat. "We Akuma are programmed to obey the Noahs' orders, even the unspoken ones, and for some reason..." The Akuma shook its head, "I don't know, I've felt strange. I haven't had an urge to kill anyone. It hasn't been long since I received my orders, but Master Walker's order has changed me somehow. I can't so much as think of killing now."

_'Lenalee has a right to wonder about the Akuma,'_ Lavi thought,_ 'and why it's not trying to kill anyone. But... this is the perfect opportunity, and we should take advantage of it while we still can._

Without asking, Lavi sat down across from the Akuma, and slammed his hands against the seat. "Whether the letter was to reach him or not, I want to give it a shot." Lavi glanced up at Lenalee, and then back to Akuma. He looked in its eyes directly and said, "Now, do you have some paper? I'm going to write a letter to Allen and pray to God that you'll be able to give it to him... without reading!"

"You can't just welcome yourself into my booth! ...And you can just use the paper that Master Walker wrote on," the Akuma replied, annoyance apparent in her tone.

"Oh, right," Lavi said as he reached for a pen from his back pocket.

Lavi then turned his head and faced Lenalee. He scooted over towards the window a little, and patted on the seat next to him. "Lenalee, are you in this with me? We have an opportunity to get in contact with Allen, and I think you and I should take advantage of it." He paused and glanced at Lenalee's hand and sighed, noticing that she still had the note that the Akuma had given them. Lavi took his eye away from her hand, and moved it back up to her eyes. "It's all up to you."

Lenalee nodded. "Tell Allen that we're coming for him," she said. "Also... Tell Allen that we're worried about him, even if he says he's okay. Tell him we miss him and want him to come back."

Lavi took the paper from Lenalee, and held it up against the window. "Got it."

As he began to write, he thought to himself, _'I guess it doesn't matter whether the akuma reads it now, knowing that it just heard what Lenalee told me to write. Oh well, I'll just change it up a little.'_

After a few minutes of writing, and biting the end of his pen, he was done. Lavi held then read it over in his head.

_'Allen, Lenalee and I are glad that you're okay, but we can't help but worry. We're your friends, and you should know that. But hopefully you won't be stuck there, as a Noah for too much longer. Lenalee and I are coming to get you out of there. We're not exactly sure on how we're going to do that yet, but we will._

_'Lenalee, Timcanpy, and I miss you, and we want you back here with us. So no matter what the cost, we will get you back. We were already ordered to kill you by Lvellie (we didn't speak of the Noah thing, we made up a reasoning about why you were gone). But we ran instead..._

_'Anyway, we'll see you soon, Allen. I--We promise.'_

At the bottom of the paper, Lavi signed his name, and then handed the letter to Lenalee. "After you look it over, write your name by mine somewhere."

Timcanpy flew up in front of Lavi, seeming to be in a slight panic. He wanted to sign it too, or at least attempt.

Lavi grinned softly at Timcanpy and said, "Yes, Timcanpy, you can sign it, too."

Timcanpy relaxed and then flew up on Lenalee shoulder. He wanted to get a good look at the letter as well.

It didn't take long for Lenalee to read through the note and sign it in her curvy lettering. Timcanpy snatched the pen and managed to scribble "Tim" at the bottom. Lenalee handed the letter to the Akuma and said, "Don't show it to anyone." She desperately hoped that no one would take it from the Akuma before Allen got a chance to read it.

Lavi turned his head towards the Akuma, but didn't look at it in the eye. "Yes...please don't show it to anyone but Allen."

Lavi stood up from his seat and walked out of the booth.

The Akuma sighed as she folded the letter a few times. "Very well, but I must say, all the other Noah and even Master Earl seemed very pleased to have Master Walker there with them. And for the most part, Master Walker was getting along with all of them quite well."

Lavi looked over his shoulder in slight disbelief at the Akuma. He didn't like what he had just heard, but it made some sense at the same time. He nodded slowly to the Akuma and said, "Oh, I see...." Lavi bowed his head down a little and stuttered to say, "Tha--Thank you very much for doing this for us. We--We appreciate it very much."

Lavi once again grabbed Lenalee's hand. As they started to walk away from the Akuma, Lavi said, "C'mon, Lenalee. Let's go back to our seats. I'm sure we still have quite a long time to wait."

Lenalee and Lavi sat down. The train slowed, and many of the passengers got off. Lenalee glanced out the window and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't see the Akuma among them. "Lavi... Do you think the Akuma was telling the truth? That Allen was getting along with the Noah, I mean." It wasn't the first time she'd questioned herself about what they were doing.

Lavi lifted his head from leaning against the window. He linked his hands together, and rested his chin on top of them. Leaning forward a little, he replied, "Honestly... I think it was, Lenalee. What reason would the Akuma have for lying to us? From what I could tell, the Akuma seemed be happy to have Allen around, as well."

He closed his eye and looked through all the images in his head, from the time when he saw a Noah for the first time with Allen to viewing Timcanpy's clip of what Tyki Mikk had done to him to their last encounter on the Ark. From what Lavi could tell about the Noah and the Earl's relationship they all had with each other, they seemed to be like a welcoming family towards their own.

Lavi reopened his eye. He might have been facing Lenalee, but his eye seemed to be looking right past her, into his own thoughts. "The whole thing makes me wonder though... Before Allen was a Noah, the Earl and all the other Noah hated him, but now he's a Noah, they welcome him with open arms. But then... look at us. From the start we welcomed Allen with open arms, and even now, knowing he's a Noah, we're risking everything to save him and see his smiling face."

Lavi shut down all the images going through his head and looked at Lenalee without staring through her. "I think they're just welcoming him because he's a Noah now, but if he goes back to being an Exorcist like us, he'll be hated once more. I'm not saying that's a good thing, but..." Lavi didn't know what else he could say after that. Perhaps Lenalee did. Maybe all these thoughts and images were going through her head as well.

"I think Allen realizes that too," Lenalee said. "We've been Allen's family since he came to the Order, and we've been friends through thick and thin..." She looked down at her feet. "Do you think Allen's forgotten all about that because he's a Noah now?" She looked straight into Lavi's eyes. "He couldn't have, right?"

Lavi stuttered to answer. "I--I don't think so. Look at the other Noah. They seem to remember things about their lives before they became Noah, right?"

This thought made him think to. Unfortunately, he had no good memories about hearing any stories from the Noah, so he wasn't for sure on this one. He only had a slight idea from getting various from various books.

Then again, maybe Allen wanted to forget them.

Lavi lifted his head and shook it. "No, of course he won't forget about us! There's no way that we can be erased from his memory," Lavi snapped his fingers, "just like that. There's just no way..."

They were silent the rest of the way. Every time the train stopped, Lenalee would cast around to find the Akuma. When she didn't see the Akuma get off the train, she'd lean back in her seat. It was like this for a couple more stops, until she finally saw the Akuma get off the train. Timcanpy also seemed to want to get off.

"Come on, Lavi!" she said, grabbing her friend's arm. "The Akuma's getting off here!"

Lavi opened his eye wide and stood up quickly (he'd been sleeping). "What? Where?!" He glanced out the window. Just as Lenalee had said, the Akuma was getting off. He ran out of the booth, and then towards the closest exit. "Well, what are we waiting for? C'mon!"

The two of them ran off of the train and stayed a good distance away from the Akuma. They followed it through the city, up and down various streets. While doing so, Lavi looked around his surroundings, realizing one slightly important detail. "Um...Lenalee, did you happen to see where we are? I didn't hear anything about our whereabouts... probably because I was sleeping...."

"We're in Brussels, Belgium," Lenalee replied. She kept her voice low so that the Akuma wouldn't hear.

The Akuma turned a corner into an alleyway. Lenalee and Lavi followed, only to find that it entered a door to the Earl's ark. The door shut before they could get inside. "No!" Lenalee cried. "We should've known that would happen. It was probably on the train just to deliver the letter!"

Lavi ran up against the wall where the door had been and slammed his fists against it. "Damn it!"

Lavi looked around, hoping to find anything that would get them on the ark. Of course, there was nothing. He looked over at Timcanpy, who had gently landed on his shoulder the moment before. "Timcanpy, it's all up to you again. Can we still manage to reach Allen somehow?"

Timcanpy flew up in front of Lavi, then over to Lenalee, waving around, as if they should follow him. He then flew out of the right side of the ally.

Lavi ran past Lenalee, following Timcanpy. "There must be another way, Lenalee!"

Nodding in agreement, Lenalee followed Lavi and Timcanpy. It didn't take them long to reach the train station once again. "We have to ride another train?" Lenalee asked Timcanpy. "Which one?"

Timcanpy pointed east again.

Lenalee thought a moment. "Maybe the Earl's ark is housed in Northern Russia, like Siberia," she said uncertainly. "I mean, they have to be hidden somewhere, right? That's the only place I can think of without many people."

Lavi nodded at Lenalee's suggestion. It seemed to make sense. "A place without many people... Northern Russia would certainly be the place to go." He looked at the frantic Timcanpy. "All right, Tim. You're our only hope, for now anyway."

Once again, Lavi got them tickets and got on the train. The sat towards the back again, and waited for the train to start moving.

"Lenalee, do you think there will be Akuma guarding the entrance or something? I'm sure the Earl and the other Noah won't just have it open freely to the public, even if it's in the middle of nowhere."

"If there are Akuma, we'll beat them," Lenalee said. "We've beaten a Level Four, after all. And," and here she was sure, "Allen will help us. I doubt he'd just sit by and let us get killed, Noah or not." The train started moving and lulled her to sleep. "Wake me up when we get there," she muttered.

Lavi nodded as Lenalee fell asleep. Knowing she would hear him, he said anyway, "Yeah... we did." Lavi put his legs up on the seat and stretched them out. He then leaned back against the window, and crossed his arms. He looked out the window and thought, _'I wonder how Allen's doing now...Sleeping perhaps? This whole transformation must be tough on him... And his Innocence.'_

Lavi sighed and glanced back at Lenalee. She seemed to have laid out her entire body on the seat in the short time Lavi was staring out the window. _'Lenalee must be exhausted. She's probably got a lot on her mind too.'_

He watched as Timcanpy flew over and rested on top of Lenalee. He seemed to be tired as well. Quietly, Lavi said, "You'll wake up if you sense anything, right, Timcanpy?"

Timcanpy nodded his head...er...body. He then wrapped his tail around himself, and fell asleep.

Lavi grinned and then looked out the window again. He had a feeling that they would be on this train for awhile.

* * *

IMPORTANT NOTE!!!!

I added two paragraphs that got lost in the shuffle of formatting the RP into a fanfic to the end of the last chapter. Please go and read them. Thank you. :)


	5. Noah Birthday

**Chapter 5**

It was almost dinnertime by the time Allen woke up because his stomach was growling loudly. He was about to sit up, but felt something on his chest. He glanced down to find Road sleeping on him.

"Uh, Road?" he said, poking the sleeping girl. "Road, I wanna get up now. Road?" He wasn't sure if the girl was fast asleep or just faking so she could stay with him longer. "Road, I'm hungry. Can we get some dinner?"

Road giggled a little as she heard Allen complain about her sleeping on him. She was just resting her eyes the whole time he was a sleep. She pretended like she was just waking up and rubbed her face on his chest and then looked at Allen while still laying on him. "Ohayo, Allen-kun," she said with a sleepy voice. "Is it really time for dinner?" A loud gurgle from Allen's stomach confirmed her question, so she sat up, rubbed Allen's stomach and said, "Sounds like someone's hungry..." Road looked at Allen with worried eyes. " Do you think that you can really walk on your own yet?"

"I think I can," Allen said. He stood up and didn't feel dizzy at all. Curious, he glanced into the mirror. The cross-shaped scars were just that: scars. They were no longer bleeding or hurting. He noticed the scar for his curse was still there with the dark star on top, though it looked more like a tattoo because the entire thing was black. That wasn't what bothered him, though.

"Road, do my eyes look any different to you?" he asked. "My eyes were silver before, right? I mean, they're gold now..." He looked back in the mirror. Nothing else had changed but that, his scar, and his skin.

Road swiped her hands over her eyes and her eye color turned from it indigo color to a gold color similar to Allen's. "It's another stipulation of the stigma that you'll be able to control in due time," Road explained as she watched Allen with her golden eyes, "just like your skin tone and the appearance of those scars." Road stood up and held a hand out for Allen and said, "All righty then, let's head on down to the dinning room."

The Earl got up from his unnoticed seat in the corner of the room and walked over to the bed Allen and Road were on again without them noticing. "Did you have fun while I was gone?" The Earl smiled. He'd entered while they were asleep and had been there the whole time. "Hope you two slept well together." The Earl smile grew. He turned around a shrugged. "I would have thought you two would wait until the wedding... Come along, my dears. Let's eat." The Earl went over to the door and opened it. He stood there smiling at Allen and Road waiting to see who would react first.

Allen's jaw dropped. "It's not what you think!" he said. "You've got it all wrong!" What was wrong with this family, anyway? The Earl's stupid jokes were worse than Lavi's!

Road turned pink herself at the Earl's comment; she could handle the love and marriage jokes, but her virginity was no laughing matter. She grabbed the sides of he skirt and tightened them as to protect her skirt from coming off.

"M-M-Master Earl!" Road yelled at him in a flustered voice. She was now blushing beyond belief. "How dare you make a suggestion like that?! I'm here to watch over Allen, not be his—his sex partner!"

Road crossed her arms and wore an angry face for the Earl. For a quick second, she thought over in her mind that she might want to do that but certainly not any time soon--that was a long term goal set for a matter of years, not hours. Road was still flustered with the Earl and that thought of hers just set her off again. She threw a pillow at the Earl, a direct hit to the head, "Will you just go?! We were going to head down there in a few seconds. However, now I have to apologize to Allen for your absurd comments, and that will take forever because of how personal and rude that was!"

"Y-you don't have to apologize, Road," Allen said. "I mean, it's not your fault the Earl said that. I've heard worse things come out of Lavi's mouth." Only, all those comments had been about the ridiculous notion that he and Kanda were together. It was never a joke about Allen and a girl.

Road blushed again, turned towards Allen, and bowed for him. "I'm sorry about the Earl's rude comment," Road said in a distressed voice. "I might love you, but I would never force you into anything like what he suggests when you're ability to refuse would be impaired." Road kept her head down, as she was now cherry red. She had never felt more embarrassed in her entire life.

Allen had felt this embarrassed before, so it didn't faze him in the least to simply take Road's hand and walk right past the Earl. After all, Lavi had once made one of his "Yullen" comments right in front of Lenalee. "Which way is it to the dining room? I'm starved." He hoped that his changing the subject would help Road to recover from the Earl's comments.

Road was still blushing but not as intensely as before. She stood up straighter but kept her head down. She pointed out of the door and said to him bashfully, "C'mon Allen... I'll show you again..." She walked behind Allen as they passed the Earl and started down the hallway. Once around the corner, she hesitantly held Allen's hand and said, "Just incase you start to fumble... I'll already have a hand on you..."

"Thanks," he said. He bent over a bit to look straight in Road's eyes. "I think I'd be really lost right now if it weren't for you and the others." _I'd also be really dead_, he added mentally.

Road averted her gaze a little and said, "Oh, really, it's noth-" Road was cut off when Allen bent over and kissed her forehead. Her face turned pink and she wore a face of shock as he kissed her. _Did he just do what I think he did?!?_ she thought to herself as he straightened up after. She wanted to jump around and shout in glee like a fan girl. However, she used this to her slight advantage and instead just wrapped her arms around his neck and popped a foot up. She slowly rubbed her check against his and looked up into Allen's eyes and said, "Like I was saying, It's nothing, really."

The Earl came up behind them, completely oblivious to what had just occurred between Allen and Road. "I was only saying, my little one," he said to Road, "that a man and women shouldn't sleep in the same room unless they plan to marry... Well, at least that was the case few years ago..." The Earl shrugged and then pulled both of them into a hug. "I'm sorry my dears." He released them and started walking to the Dining Room. "Come along, my children... I'm so hungry."

Road loosed her grip around Allen's neck and she said to the Earl, "We were only napping together. Nothing happened between us." The Earl was still walking away from them. "We'll be down in a little bit," she called after him. "I want Allen to take it easy on the walking."

Road turned back to Allen and wrapped her arms around him again. Once again, she averted her eyes and said, "Like I said...back in your room..." Road's heart started to skip some beats. Being this close to him made her feel a little nervous, yet wonderful at the same time. "I'm sorry... about the... Earl..." Road began to move closer to Allen's face, though not on purpose. It was like she was literally attracted to the presence of Allen and was half fighting the pull of his attraction and half letting it take her in.

Allen didn't kiss Road this time. Instead, he pulled her into a hug and buried his face in her hair. He smiled as he breathed in the scent of flowers. "You don't have to keep apologizing," he said. "The Earl does what he wants when he wants, and we can't change that."

Road wasn't sure if she was surprised again that he actually hugged her or a little relieved that her little impulses didn't get the best of her. Either way, Road tightened her grip around him and hugged him back as she rested her head on his shoulder. _He has a nice aroma about him,_ she thought to herself as she lightly pecked him on the neck. Road stepped back slightly to look up at Allen and said, "Yeah I know, but he tried to have you destroyed before, and now he's teasing you. I feel like I should apologize." Road pulled out of Allen's hug, grabbed his hand, and dragged him down the hallway. "C'mon! I'm starving."

A few minutes later, they entered the dining room. Everyone else was sitting around the table, waiting on the two of them. Road sat Allen down next to Tyki, then pulled her chair up to his other side so he was beside the two people who'd taken care of him.

Tyki nibbled at a roll, looked at the two of them, and noted the expressions on their faces. Allen looked a lot better than he had that morning and had a face just shy of happy. "You're looking a lot better Allen," Tyki commented as he buttered another roll and took a bite. He grabbed the basket of rolls and held it in front of him to offer one as well and he added, "I think you'll be able to fare on your own by tomorrow morning."

Allen gratefully took the rolls. As he buttered his own, he watched the maids come in silently--almost invisibly--and place not one but two roasted chickens on the table. They also brought out mashed potatoes, stuffing, and other delicious-looking food. He was ready to dig in.

Tyki glanced in Roads direction. She looked more cheerful than usual. "You look like you're having too good a time, Road... Anything I should be aware of?" Tyki asked in a tone bordering irritation.

"What is with you people and insinuating stuff like that?" Allen interrupted before Road could reply.

Jasdero and David started piling on food onto their plates when it finally came and they started to eat ferociously. They were a little more than hungry. They'd spent they're free time wrestling with each other after Jasdero misfired his pistol at David again. They both glanced up when they heard Allen's question of Tyki.

Tyki raised his palms in defense as he said in an almost embarrassed tone, "Hey Allen, all you needed to say was 'No Tyki there isn't.' Like I said this morning, I can trust your word... It's just that demonic smile on her face and that cheery mood she's in got me a little curious." With that said, Tyki started to take modest amounts of food to show Allen he was a little more civilized than the twins sitting across the table from them.

Road giggled. "No Tyki there isn't... that we want to tell you." Road winked at Allen. What she was referring to, of course, was the hug and kiss that she gave to Allen not long ago and vice-versa. Road then started to carve some meat from the chicken and served herself. Then, while she still had the knife, she asked Allen, "white or dark meat?"

"Both," Allen said cheerily. He couldn't help but be happy with this much food on the table. It smelled delicious. He gratefully accepted it and took some of the other foods. Everything looked as good as it smelled and tasted even better. Even Jerry would have trouble making food this good for the Order.

Allen once again felt home sick and paused in his eating. It was only for a moment, though. He didn't want Road messing with him again like with the oatmeal, at least, not in front of the others. That would _definitely_ earn some jeers from Jasdero and David.

"So, uh..." he started, trying to find a conversation starter. "What does everyone do around here for fun?"

At Allen's question, all the Noah stopped eating—even Lulubelle—and looked at each other, then back at Allen. Then they all asked him with kind of a worried tone in unison. "Y-You really want to know?"

The Noah had their own things they liked to do, yes, but most of their time was spent killing exorcists, destroying Innocence, or creating and commanding Akuma. Although it was technically work, they considered their work fun half the time.

Allen looked at all their faces and raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?" he asked. "If you guys don't want to tell me, that's fine. I just wanted to start a conversation is all." He tried to smile, but it looked a little forced. _I guess they don't quite trust me as a member of their family yet..._

They all looked at each other, trying to figure out telepathically between the five of them what they should say. _What should we tell him?_

Tyki wiped his mouth of food and then he said to Allen, "Well, you know me well enough. I play cards in my free time." Tyki told him the truth, but he didn't tell him the whole truth about their work. He wasn't sure Allen was ready to talk about killing off his former friends yet, seeing how he had only been a Noah for two days.

Road nodded her head and understood what Tyki was doing. She added with a smile, "I like to sing and play with my toys and family."

Jasdero and David pulled out their pistols, pointed them at each other and said in unison in their gleeful tone, "Target practice!"

"Pedicures." Lulubelle answered simply as she continued to saw at her chicken breast.

Road looked at Allen again and asked him cheerfully to engage him in the conversation he started, "And what about you? Anything you like to do?"

"Besides play strip poker." Tyki added as he continued to eat; he remembered that day rather well.

"Huh? Well..." Allen really had to think about it. He didn't really have any hobbies to speak of, and he was normally busy at the Black Order with something or another. He hadn't had spare time since Mana was alive, and those memories were fuzzy at best. "I like to play piano, I guess." In truth, he hadn't ever liked the piano until he'd gained the 14th's memories, and even then, no one had trusted him because of it. "I like acrobatics, too. I used to be a clown when I was little, so I like juggling and performing stuff like that."

All of the Noah showed signs of surprise and interest in the fact Allen was a clown in his former days. However it was the twins initiative to say something about it first. They both had the same idea and the smiled at each other mischievously. David then took the lead and said, "Ohhh? Oto-kun is a clown, eh?"

Meanwhile, Jasdero sneakily picked up three apples that were in a basket on their side of the table and said, "Then let's see you juggle! Hee Hee!" Jasdero chucked the fruit at Allen. They expected to see him either catch them or be hit by them. Either one would entertain the twins very much so.

Allen caught the apples and easily started juggling them. He knew the twins would pull a stunt like that as soon as they heard about his being a clown. He grinned back at them. "Let's see _you_ juggle!" he said, tossing them one at a time back at the twins. If they knew anything about juggling, they could continue the rhythm no problem. If they didn't, they would be able to catch the apples without much trouble. He doubted that they could miss such an easy catch between the two of them. There were only three apples, after all.

The twins were greatly entertained watching their new brother juggle like that, but weren't so entertained watching the fruit come right back at them. They both got the same idea and aimed their pistols at the fruit. They took turns and fired at the fruit; David fired, then Jasdero and then David again. Their procession of firing was quick and seemed to happen in an instant. Their shots were precise and the twins were able to hit all three. The apples exploded on impact, causing fruit juice and bits splattered across a small area on the table.

"Direct hits" they both said in unison. They blew the smoke that accumulated around the barrels of the guns, then sat back down.

David explained, "Sorry, we're not clowns, so we can't juggle."

Laughing, Allen wiped away bits of apple and juice with his napkin. _That_ he hadn't expected. "I could teach you guys how to juggle, if you want. It's not too difficult."

Jasdero and David looked at each other then smiled while Jasdero added a snicker. "Sure Oto-kun we'd-" They cut themselves off when they saw the state Tyki was in and began to laugh historically.

Allen glanced at Tyki as well and tried not to crack up. He was covered in apple. "Tyki, might want to wipe your face off a bit."

Road did her best to keep in her giggling, but she soon burst out laughing. She had some bits and juice on her as well but not quite as much as Tyki

Tyki sat they with his arms crossed and his eyes closed as his entire face was covered with Apple juice. He said to Allen with a slightly irritated voice, "I know Allen. I know." Tyki then grabbed his napkin and started to wipe his face with one hand as he thought to himself_, Just grin and bear it Tyki. As much as you'd like to beat them to a pulp, it's not gonna help all that much._ Tyki then went back to his meal and then said to change the subject off his being humiliated, "I wonder what's for dessert."

"As long as it doesn't have liquor in it, I don't care," Allen muttered. The incident with the chocolate liquors was still etched deeply in his mind. He'd eaten Cross's chocolate liquors once, and let's just say he couldn't so much as smell alcohol because of it. He shuddered at the thought of what Cross had done to him as punishment. Thankfully, nothing in the meal had been made with alcohol. If there had been, he would have avoided it entirely, but he couldn't say no to desert. That would be rude.

The Earl sat back and watched his kids get along. They were doing so well together—a big happy family. He covered his mouth when he finally noticed Tyki covered in apple juice. Luckily, he hadn't gotten anything on him. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Desert is devil's food cake, chocolate on top of dark chocolate. I hope you all enjoy it." The Earl got up and walked to the door, but turned back to his children. "I won't be joining you, I'm afraid. I have a phone call to answer."

Jasdero and David were drooling as soon as they saw the cake come in. Akuma maids came over and took everyone's plates and replaced them with a large slice of cake. Before any of the Noah even lifted a fork towards it, they all made a cross symbol with their fingers over their forehead, like a priest would do over a person's chest. The twins held the honor to say, "May Skin rest in piece." All of the other Noah nodded their heads silently and then began to eat. That was a ritual they'd adopted after the death of Skin to pay their respects before they ate his favorite part of a meal. The twins ate their cake in large bites but enjoyed every second of it.

Tyki had just dug into his cake. Tyki glanced around and then he leaned behind Allen's chair and he whispered to Road, "Oi, Road!"

Road was just about to have a bite of her own cake when Tyki called for her. She put down her fork and leaned behind Allen's chair as well. "What?"

"The Earl has a phone call?" he whispered quietly so Allen wouldn't hear. "Who could he be talking to? We're all here."

Road looked at the back of Allen's chair to see if he was blatantly trying to listen in on them—she bet he was since they were hovering behind the back of his chair—and made sure he wasn't looking at them. "I think it might be another seller," she whispered very quietly. Road knew that the Earl received sellers every once in a while, and they were much helpful. The last one, though, was found out by Allen himself at a hospital in Europe.

Tyki nodded his head in understanding, and the two of them returned to an upright position and began to eat their devil's food cake.

Though they'd tried to keep it down, Allen did hear everything. He finished his slice of cake and listened as Road and Tyki discussed the Earl's phone call. He remembered the seller he and Lenalee had taken care of. The man had taken advantage of all the people in the town with his fake hospital, not just the people he'd "sold" Akuma too. The former doctor was a terrible person.

He excused himself from the table. "I'll see you guys later," he said. "I'm heading back to my room for a little bit." The conversation bothered him, but he mostly wanted to see if the Akuma he'd sent had returned. He also wanted some time on his own to think. No offense to the others, but there was only so much of all this "family togetherness" he could take.

All of the Noah looked at each other after their new brother up and left the table like that. Jasdero and David held their hands up and said in unison, "We're innocent." They both chuckled at their little pun that took them a second to get.

Tyki gulped down the last of his cake, pulled out a cigarette, and asked Road, "Do you think he heard us?"

Road put down her fork without finishing her cake and held her chin up with her hands, "He probably did."

Tyki lit up and took a few puffs before he said, "I think we should go apologize to him."

Road wiped her mouth, stood up and announced, "I'll go do that. I still have to watch over him for the night."

Road left the dinning room so the grown ups could enjoy some wine and coffee and to go check up on Allen. As she made her way to his room she yawned and said, "Oh my, I'm tired." She then decided to take a side trip to her black-and-pink-themed room and hopped into her shower and freshened up for bed. She dressed herself in a black nightgown that flowed down to her calves and threw on a black and indigo nightcap to hid her wet hair. She then grabbed one of her teddy bears and made her way over to Allen's room.

Allen opened the door to his room and glanced around quickly. The Akuma he'd sent to deliver the message wasn't here, so it probably wasn't back yet. Sighing, Allen sat down on his bed. He scratched the back of his head and wondered out loud, "How long does it take an Akuma to get around anyway?" They'd always appeared out of nowhere before. _I guess even Akuma can't get around instantly_, he thought with a sigh.

He looked at a lock of his hair. It was all greasy, probably from how much he'd sweated during the stigma-induced fever. "Ugh, I feel like I haven't bathed in weeks," he grumbled as he went into the bathroom. He'd take a shower or something while he waited for the Akuma to get back.

The bathroom was big, but not ridiculously huge for a private bathroom. Unlike his room, which was mostly black, this room was white with a black counter and sink. The shower curtains were also black with silver stars on it. Allen had to smile. The Earl probably picked out those curtains.

He took a quick shower and went back into his room. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand. It was 8:00pm--too early to go to sleep. He really didn't want to see the other Noah at the moment though. "I wonder where that Akuma is," he grumbled. "I want to know if Lenalee and Lavi are safe..."

The Earl popped up behind Allen. He had a gift hidden behind his back. He'd gotten it just for Allen. The Earl's grin went wider. "Hello Allen-kun!" He laughed as he used the name.

Allen didn't jump this time. _Note to self_, he thought, _lock my door from now on_. He turned to the Earl and hoped to God that the Earl hadn't heard his muttering about Lenalee and Lavi. "Yes, Earl?" he asked. He was wearing his best poker face: a childish smile. It always fooled the other card players; he hoped it would fool the Earl now. "What is it?"

The Earl cocked his head to the side. "What's with that face...? It looks just like a little kid's face when they are trying to act innocent. IT'S SO CUTE!" The Earl cleared his throat. "I got you a gift for you birthday. You finished turning, so today is your Noah birthday! I hope you like it!" He pulled the gift out from behind him and held it out for Allen.

"Er... thank you?" Allen said, but it was definitely more of a question. The Earl being nice to him was just _too_ strange. He took the brightly wrapped box and looked at it. He was almost afraid to look at what was inside, but he knew the Earl wouldn't leave until the box was opened. He pulled the ribbon and lifted the lid of the gift. Inside was a book with a beautifully drawn cover. Allen lifted it out to get a better look.

What he assumed were fairies were on the cover. One had burning angel wings. Another had a pair of leaves. The third had clear dragonfly wings. The last had scaly blue wings to match her mermaid's tail. Allen opened the cover and flipped through the pages. From the look of it, it was about a traveling clown who came across a fairy village and became cursed. "Wow, thanks," he said. "I'm not sure if I'll like it, but I appreciate the thought."

The Earl smiled and walked away. He stepped out and locked the door behind him. He wanted to leave Allen alone with the book.

Allen was surprised the Earl would leave just like that. He'd honestly thought that the Earl would stay and bother him a little longer. Not that he minded the Earl's leaving, of course.

He opened the book and was about to start reading when he heard a knock at the door. "Who's there?" he asked. He hoped to God it wasn't the Earl or one of the Noah.

"I've come back with a message, Master Walker," said the Akuma from the other side of the door.

Allen rushed to open the door. "Well?" he asked.

The Akuma pulled out the folded letter in front of the eager Allen. Patiently, it waited for Allen to take the letter from its hands. "I didn't harm anyone, including your friends, just as you wished, Master Walker," the Akuma paused and looked down at the letter it was holding. "They seemed very happy to hear from you."

Road stopped when she heard the voice of an Akuma in his room. They were talking about something that she didn't understand; it sounded like something about a message. She waited silently outside of his room for the Akuma to leave and then she would knock. She did her best not to eavesdrop but caught bits and pieces by accident. She didn't want to believe that he was plotting against them.

The Akuma bowed and said, "Good night, Master Walker." It walked over the door. It was a little surprised by Road standing there but kept a poker face as it bowed. "Miss Road, good evening."

Road eyed the Akuma curiously as it walked out of Allen's room, bowed to her and then walked away. She then threw a curious eye at Allen, who seemed to be all flustered about the fact that Road was outside of his door.

Allen had already pocketed the note, so there was nothing suspicious... except the Akuma, that is. "Road, what are you doing here?" He knew from the look on Road's face that she'd overheard something and he was in big trouble. "I can explain, Road!" he said as he pieced together a quick story in his mind.

Road crossed her arms and locked out her one leg like they were a couple and the wife had just caught the husband cheating; she squeezed her teddy bear. "Well, I was here to continue looking after you—since the stigma still hasn't technically set in yet—and to apologize for what Tyki and I said at the table," Road said with a said in a 'matter-of-factly' tone, " but I think an explanation would be better suited for the situation."

He decided the truth was best. There wasn't anything incriminating in the note he'd sent. "I just sent a message to Lenalee and Lavi saying that I was all right. I didn't want them worrying about me," Allen said quietly. He couldn't look Road in the eye. He felt like a little boy who'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I didn't tell them where I was or anything, just that I was okay. You can even ask the Akuma."

Road listened patiently while lightly glaring at Allen as he gave his story. She noticed that he wasn't looking her in the eye, which meant to her he was telling the truth or coming up with a poorly practiced lie. Road then explained in that same voice she used before, "Well, of course you couldn't tell them because you don't know where you are yourself. Tyki brought you here through the gateway set outside of the Order." Road sighed, walked up to Allen and held out her right hand while she hugged her teddy bear with her left arm. "Let me see the letter." Road asked in a monotone voice. She was a little disappointed in that Allen was doing this, but she couldn't be completely angry with him since they did just pull him out of his previous life.

Allen hung his head and handed her the letter. He really hoped that Lenalee or Lavi (whoever wrote it) hadn't put anything incriminating in there. He hadn't read it yet, after all.

"I'm really sorry," he said lamely. "I'm not really sure what I was thinking... I probably wasn't..." He felt horrible but didn't know why. "I was still under the influence of the stigma, so... I guess my head was a little messed up." He glanced at Road, praying that she'd forgive him.

Road took the note gingerly from Allen's grasp and she unfolded it; she didn't respond to Allen's rationale at all. She glazed over the short not and she read it aloud in a monotone voice.

"_Allen, Lenalee and I are glad that you're okay, but we can't help but worry. We're your friends, and you should know that. But hopefully you won't be stuck there, as a Noah for too much longer. Lenalee and I are coming to get you out of there. We're not exactly sure on how we're going to do that yet, but we will._

_"Lenalee, Timcanpy, and I miss you, and we want you back here with us. So no matter what the cost, we will get you back. We were already ordered to kill you by Lvellie (we didn't speak of the Noah thing, we made up a reasoning about why you were gone). But we ran instead..._

_"Anyway, we'll see you soon, Allen. I--We promise."_

She then showed the note to Allen for a minute so that he could verify that what she'd said was true, but she didn't let him take the paper. "It's understandable that you did something like this, also a little expected. However, as Tyki said, a relationship between a Noah and an Exorcist is not fruitful," she said in a disappointed tone after she felt Allen had enough time to read the whole note over. "However, you know yourself that it's impossible to turn a Noah back to normal for good."

Road folded the note up and held her hand out. One of her striped, cone candles materialized over her open palm, already lit. She held the folded note over the flame and set it on fire. As she watched it burn with sadden eyes, she continued to say in her disappointed tone, " As long as you don't send another note, I won't tell the others about this." Road released the remaining corner of the note and watched it burn. Then she looked down at the ashes that accumulated on the floor. She got rid of her candle, called out to the hallway for an Akuma and one appeared.

"Yes Miss Road?" it asked an emotionless voice.

Road pointed to the floor and asked, "Could you clean this up?"

The Akuma bowed and brushed up the ashes into a dustpan, then left the room.

Road then walked over to the love seat and sat down with her legs and arms crossed and her teddy bear in her grip. She looked towards the head of Allen's bed to avoid looking at him and said in a monotone voice. "Just pretend that I'm not here if you wish. I'm just here to help you through another cycle if you have one." Road was really disappointed in Allen but did her best not to show it. Also, she was a bit sad that he hadn't really grown to like them. She believed so much that he was growing fond of them with all of the nice things he said to Tyki and herself, the fun they had at dinner, and seemingly enjoying his time with them. A small tear weld up in her eye as she tried to avert Allen's gaze.

Allen still felt guilty. "I'm really, _really _sorry, Road," he said. He felt tears in his eyes but didn't bother to wipe them away. "I just... I wasn't really sure about anything back then..." It seemed so long ago that he wrote the cursed note. "I guess I wrote it when I was somewhere in between--not quite a Noah, but not human anymore either." He sat down on his bed and stared at his feet. "If there's anything I can do, just tell me. I feel horrible about all this."

Road silently wiped her tear away while Allen tried to apologize. The sadness in his voice and the sight of him moping in her peripheral vision just got to Road. She couldn't take this little fight they had, but someone had to be the serious one between them. She finally looked at him with softer eyes and said plainly but still in an off tone, "Sing, play, teach, mingle, read, reveal." She waited for Allen to actually look at her and then explained, "Sing with me so you get better at it. Play Tyki in cards so you guys can have your friendly competition. Teach Jasdero and David to juggle like you told them you would. Mingle with Lulubelle so she'll open up to you more. Read that book the Earl gave you for your Noah Birthday. And reveal your thoughts and feelings to us instead of just hiding them and causing us to worry. Do all of that, and do it like you wanted to do it all along, and I'll personally forgive you."

Road sighed and smiled apathetically for Allen, "You're so down on yourself Allen-kun. Just accept the fact that you're a Noah like you had to accept the task of being an Exorcist. Once you do that, you'll start to feel better around here." She laid down on her back on the love seat, hugged her bear, and then looked up at the ceiling. She was fighting the urge to go over and hug him to get him to feel better, but she still wanted him to learn his lesson. She sighed sadly and acted like a piece of the furniture.

Allen nodded and glanced at the book. He'd put it down on his nightstand when the Akuma came in. "Say, Road, want to read it with me?" He picked it up and looked at the cover art again. "I think you'd like it. It sounds pretty good." He grinned as he opened the book again. He flipped through the pages and smiled as he saw more illustrations inside. "There are fairies," he teased. He wasn't sure if Road liked that sort of thing, but it was worth a shot to get on her good side again.

Road turned her head and looked over at Allen, who was obviously trying to get back on her good side. She smiled slightly at his attempt and said in a relaxed tone, "Why not?" She stood up and walked over to Allen with a small spring in her step. She crawled onto the bed with Allen and sat next to him with her bear in between them. She took the book from Allen and said, " I'll read this to you." Once Allen was ready, she held the book up between them so that Allen could follow along as she read aloud to him.

A smile played across Allen's face. Here Road was acting motherly, and _he_ was the older one of the two. Oh, the irony of the situation!

Still, Road was a good storyteller. She gave each fairy their own distinct voice as she read aloud and had Allen read the clown's parts. By the time they reached chapter three, it was getting late.

Allen yawned. "How am I so tired?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. "All I seem to be doing is sleeping or getting myself into trouble." He stifled another yawn and glanced at Road, wondering if she was going to spend the night in his room or not.

Road stopped reading when Allen asked why he was tired. "The stigma takes a lot out of you," she replied as she closed the book, "hence why you took that seven hour nap around noon." Road crawled out of the bed and walked over to Allen's side, laid Allen down on his back and pulled the covers over him. "If you're that tired, you should get some rest then. We'll continue our reading tomorrow." Road bent over and kissed him on the forehead. " Good night, Allen-kun. I'll be over by the love seat incase you need me throughout the night." She waltzed on over to the love seat, situated herself into a comfortable position and then turned her head slightly towards Allen so she could keep an eye on him but not exactly stare him down so he didn't feel so awkward trying to fall asleep.

"Good night, Road," Allen said, pulling the covers more tightly around him. "See you in the morning." He fell asleep soon after closing his eyes. He was glad Road had forgiven him. He was going to like it here.

* * *

Lenalee rubbed her eye sleepily. The train had stopped at a station. End of the line. She shook Lavi awake, and together they walked into the cold. They'd gone north and were planning on getting on the next train to Russia.

She shivered and wrapped her coat around her. It was so cold, Lenalee could see her breath. The sun had set a long time before, so that was probably the reason. "We should find a place to stay before we freeze to death," she said. Her teeth chattered. "We can't help Allen if we're frozen."

Lavi followed Lenalee off of the train lazily, showing that he was still tired. As soon as they walked outside though, Lavi shivered and wrapped his arms around him tightly. He didn't expect it to be this cold at all. Lavi sniffed and nodded slowly. "Yeah...that's a good idea."

The two of them walked to a nearby motel and rented a room for the night. They walked up and sat down on the two beds in the room. Timcanpy on the other hand, seemed eager to go and find Allen. Either he was closer than either Lenalee or Lavi thought, or Timcanpy missed him just as much as they did. "Now, now, Tim," Lavi said calmly. "Be patient. We'll reach Allen soon, all right?"

Lenalee held out her hands for Timcanpy to land. She placed him on her lap and patted his head comfortingly. "We're doing our best, Tim," she said. "We'll get Allen back, even if we have to fight all the Noah to do so." She really hoped it wouldn't come down to that, but she was willing to fight single-handedly if it meant saving Allen.

* * *

A couple notes:

Twilight is almost single-handedly controlling all the Noah. Lulubelle was taken over by mywill123 much later in the RP. Just about anything that's been said relating to their Noah powers has been created by Twilight-kun.

Book was made up by sailorstar165. Yullen reference was also made by sailorstar165 (me) to annoy Twilight.


	6. Red Innocence

Lavi squinted his eyes and looked at the window. It was a little light outside, not much, but it was obviously morning. The tired teen sat up straight in his bed and stretched out his arms, yawning. He glanced over at Lenalee and Timcanpy. They were both fast asleep.

_I better wake them up... We can't wait too much longer._ Lavi crawled out of his bed slowly and sat down on Lenalee's. He grabbed her shoulder and shook it a little. In a semi-low voice, Lavi said, "Lenalee, it's time to get up. We need to get ready for the next train."

Lavi continued to shake her shoulder a little harder every minute or so, waiting for Lenalee to wake up. _Good thing it doesn't take too much to wake her up, unlike her brother._

Lenalee opened her eyes and rubbed them sleepily. She saw the time and jumped out of bed. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" she cried. "Hurry up, Lavi, before miss the train!" Timcanpy clung to her head as she ran out.

"I just woke up a few minutes ago. That's why." He stood up and followed Lenalee out of the room.

The two exorcists headed toward the train station, and once again bought tickets. They got on the train and, as before, sat away from most of the passengers.

Lavi looked out the window, waiting to leave. "I didn't think we would have to ride the train so much. It's a little tiring."

Lenalee nodded. They hadn't ridden a train since Allen obtained the Ark. It was tiring, especially since they hadn't done it for so long. "We're almost there, thank God." Timcanpy was pointing to Allen's location and was bouncing excitedly. They had to be getting closer.

Lavi looked at his friend and rested his chin on his folded hands. His eyes followed Timcanpy's rapidly excited movements. "You're probably right, but I still wonder how long we're going to have to sit here on this train. I feel so useless right now. He groaned as he stretched his legs out along the seat and leaned again the wall. He tilted his head back as far as he could and said, "It's so boring."

Lenalee leaned back in her chair as well. "We just have to be patient a little longer. We'll get to where Allen is soon, I'm sure."

* * *

Tyki woke up a little earlier than usual the next morning—around 9:00 AM—since he now had something to do once again. He took a quick shower, dressed himself in his tux, pushed back his hair, and strolled out of his room.

Tyki made his way up to Allen's room to see if the stigma finally set in and if Road tried to pull anything off the night before. He glided through the hallways almost silently as he came to Allen's silver doorknob, double doors. He knocked quietly twice and asked in a low voice, "Allen? You up?"

When he didn't get on immediate response, Tyki opened on of the doors as quietly as possible. He peeked his head in and called out in almost a whisper, "Allen?" Tyki saw that he was still fast asleep in his bed. He then looked curiously around for Road and found her on the loveseat. He smiled to himself and thought, _That's a surprise. I would have figured she'd try and sleep with him._

Tyki closed the door quietly and hailed an Akuma that was walking down one of the hallways.

"What may I do you for, Lord Tyki Mikk?" it asked in a cynical voice.

"Go get some coffee and tea, please," Tyki requested of the Akuma. "Be sure to bring up cream and sugar as well." The Akuma bowed and returned five minutes later with two silver pots, three porcelain cups, a cup of sugar, and a cup cream, all on a silver platter. Tyki took the platter from the Akuma and once again went into Allen's room and sat down by the desk. He placed the platter down on the desk and poured himself a cup of coffee. He decided to play solitaire until the smell of coffee and tea would wake up the two teenagers.

Allen could smell the coffee before he opened his eyes. Drowsily, he glanced at Tyki. "Mornin'," he said with a yawn. He rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Could you pour me some coffee? I don't think I'm awake enough to handle hot liquids." He was normally wide-awake earlier than this, but he'd slept in because of the stigma. He hadn't slept well the past couple days.

After accepting the cup from Tyki, he said, "So what's going to happen today? Are we going to do something, or are we just hanging around the ark today?" Allen mixed some cream and sugar into his coffee.

Tyki was about to reply when Road interrupted him. She jolted upright and she said excitedly, "I smell coffee!" Road tried coffee once when Tyki slipped it to her some years back and she loved it instantly.

"Sorry Road, no coffee this morning for you," Tyki said in an almost irritated tone. Even though he was the one that gave her coffee in the first place, he'd regretted it ever since. Road was a little too hyperactive on coffee and tended to get moody. Tyki poured Road a cup of tea instead and handed it to her. She took reluctantly from him with a pout.

Tyki then took a sip at his coffee and said in response to Allen's earlier question, "Well Allen that depend on how you're feeling today. If you're still kind of weak, we'll just laze around here another day, but if you think you can walk around on your own, The Earl might have something planned for you." He took another sip and added, "By the way, does you're arm feel any different from yesterday?"

Road was taking little sips at her tea, but looked up at Tyki's question. "Huh?" she asked in curiosity. "His arm? Like his left arm?"

Allen glanced at his arm. It felt like an arm, just like always. "Feels fine," he replied. He rolled up his sleeve and looked at his Innocence. It was the same as it was the day before; the Innocence was still glowing red.

Frowning, Allen invoked the Innocence. The Crowned Clown appeared again, a black phantom, and his claw turned white. The metal parts had changed from silver to gold. The Crown Clown was the opposite of how it was before. It was like everything was opposite the way he was before.

He looked at it, confused. "What happened to it...?"

Road dropped her tea and then backed away from Allen until she was flat up against the wall. "Allen-kun," she said in a fearful tone, "y-y-you're still one of t-them." Her expression turned from fear to anger and her pointed candles appeared around her. She pointed them all at Allen. "You make one false move with that" she threatened, "and you're gonna be mince meat."

Allen flinched at the sight of Road's candle. He still remembered how painful it was when she'd gouged his eye out. Her harsh words stung as well. She hated him for something that was completely beyond his control. He didn't notice Tyki touching his claw until it was too late.

Tyki saw Road's overreaction and tried his best to calm her down. "Road, Road, Road," he said with his hands up at her, "it's not what you think. Look." Tyki grabbed Allen's claw arm and showed it to Road. "It doesn't hurt me."

Tyki then did something dangerous, but he had to find a way to prove to Road that Allen was safe. He ran his one finger over the sharp end of Allen's claw and looked to observe the damage himself first. His glove was sliced cleanly; however, Tyki didn't even get a scratch. He showed his finger to Road. "See? I'm not hurt."

Road ran over to Tyki as soon as she saw him run his finger over his claw; her candles trailed along with her. She went over to Tyki's hand and examined it herself. She was shocked as to see that he wasn't cut at all. She kissed his finger anyway like he had a cut.

Allen was just as surprised as Road. Was his arm even still made of Innocence? Had the Innocence left him or had it transformed along with the rest of him? It didn't hurt Tyki, a Noah, so what did it do now?

Fear gripped Allen. What was he becoming? "Tyki... What's happening to me?"

Tyki let go of Allen's arm and lowered his head so that his eyes were level with Allen's arm. "The same thing that was happening to your arm yesterday," Tyki explained as he noticed that Allen's claws were now gold instead of silver. "The Noah genes messed with the make-up of your Innocence and turned it into something else... like Red Innocence, and noting how your claws and mask have changed now too, I think this is how your Innocence will be from now on."

Tyki thought for a moment about why his claw didn't actually cut him and then explained, "I think it doesn't hurt us because it didn't hurt humans before but hurt us. Now that you're a Noah, I think it only hurts humans now and won't hurt us... but that's only speculation."

"Maybe the Earl would know..." Allen said feebly. The thought of his Innocence hurting humans made Allen feel ill. Maybe it was the stigma acting up again, but he doubted it. After all, he didn't feel any pain, just a sick, sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Let's ask him and see if he knows." Allen wanted to be sure about what was happening. Speculation just wasn't enough.

Tyki shook his head and said, "The Earl wouldn't know anything more than myself. This is the first time an Innocence-user has become a Noah, so this is the first case of this Red Innocence. We can still go to him and show him, but he couldn't tell you anything more than what I've already said." Tyki stood Road up and held her by the shoulders and tried to explain to her. "Listen Road: Allen is a Noah. He's not gonna hurt us."

Road still had mixed feelings. She didn't know whether to be angry at Allen or to fear him. She walked over and grabbed his left hand and examined it for herself. She then rolled up the sleeves of her nightgown, took the claw and slashed her wrist with it. She was shocked that the blade didn't cut her either, even though the blade was obviously sharp. Road was confused and didn't know what to say. She released Allen, made her candles vanish and said in a monotone voice, "I need to get dressed." She walked briskly out of Allen's room. _What is he,_ she thought to herself in a distressed mood, _one of us or still one of them?_

Allen watched Road leave and turned to Tyki. "Erm... Tyki, I've been wearing the same clothes two days in a row," he said. It was an awkward topic to bring up, especially after what had just happened. "My clothes are starting to smell. Think I can borrow some of yours?" He was about the same size as Tyki, or at least close enough that they could swap clothes. He hoped Tyki would understand.

Tyki raised an eyebrow at Allen, then thought about the situation and finally nodded his head and set his cup down. "I might have some clothes you can wear," Tyki said to Allen as he stood up. "You think you can walk yet?"

Nodding, Allen stood up. He didn't feel dizzy or tired, so he figured he was okay. "Shall we go?" he asked Tyki. He _really_ wanted to get out of the clothes he was wearing. They smelled like sweat, and even if the others couldn't smell it, he could. It had been bugging him for a while, and now that he felt better, he was determined to get out of it.

Tyki nodded silently and led him out of the room towards his own. It was kind of a long ways away from Allen's room; they passed Road's room, the dinning hall, and the twins room before they finally reached Tyki's. Tyki faded through his door and unlocked it from the inside—Tyki didn't like others in his room when he wasn't there. He opened the door and stepped to one side so Allen could walk in and he said to him, "Make yourself at home. Just take your shoes off."

Allen walked in and beheld Tyki's room. His was larger than Allen's and a little more elegant. To the right side of the room was a black velvet rug that carpeted most of the dark wood floor. Tyki's bed was much like Allen's, though it was bigger and his sheets were indigo instead of silver. Tyki also had a dark wood desk, which had a small hand-blown glass statue of a butterfly that was tinted purple. Two black doors with silver handles were also on that side of the room.

On the other side of the room was a set of three steps that led down to a circular area with white fuzzy carpet. In the middle of the circle was a poker table, and there was a mini bar off to the side. The semi-circle wall was composed of all windows with heavy black curtains drawn back so they had a view of the lake that surrounded the tall building at the center of the ark.

Tyki beckoned Allen over to one of the doors on the "black" side of the room and opened it to reveal a closet of mostly white dress shirts and black tuxedos. He shifted through everything and looked for some smaller clothes that Allen might be able to fill into. After about two minutes of searching, He handed to Allen a white tuxedo shirt that had the folds down the front, a pair of black trousers that looked slightly worn about the hems of the legs, a black belt and a tux vest that was too small for Tyki. Tyki pointed to another door. "Go in the bathroom and try that on."

Allen nodded and did as he was told. The clothes fit him perfectly and were actually quite comfy. He stepped out of the bathroom, adjusting the vest a bit as he did so. "How do I look?" he asked. He was glad Road wasn't hanging around at the moment. If she had been, he'd have been tackled to the ground by now and told how adorable he was.

Tyki looked up from the poker table, where he was playing with a deck of cards, and nodded his head. "Not bad, Walker. I only wish I had nicer clothes for you to wear. Maybe we'll go out and get you new clothes later." Tyki finished up a series of card tricks and said to Allen, "Well, there's still some time before we go to breakfast. You want to go early or is their anything else you possibly want to do?"

An evil grin spread across Allen's face as his "black" side made a triumphant return. "I could wipe the floor with you at cards," he said with a dark laugh. "Loser has to..." he thought for a moment, "give Road coffee and deal with her the rest of the day." He wasn't afraid of losing to Tyki and would enjoy watching him suffer through a hyperactive Road.

Tyki thought about the possibility of it for a moment and then a smile came across his face. "Very well..." Tyki said in a sly tone as he took off his tux coat and laid it over the back of one of the chairs. He then took off his gloves and rolled up his sleeves. "...but we're playing without gloves or sleeves." Tyki then went over to the mini bar, opened one of the drawers, took out a deck-sized wooden box and set it down at the table. "And we're playing with a special set of cards," he added as he unhitched the lock and took out a deck of pristine cards with very intricate back that almost looked like a demonic black and white painting.

Tyki fanned the cards out on the table and flipped them other to reveal that the cards faces were also very different than those of normal cards. If the card was a spade or club, the background was black and everything else was a shade of gray. If the card was a heart or diamond, then the background was gray and everything else was black. "What do you say shounen?" he asked with a smirk "you in?"

_Damn it!_

Allen didn't want to seem like a chicken and back out, but he hadn't lost a card game in so long... He shuddered. His "black" side wouldn't allow him to play cards and lose. All the trauma he'd experienced from losing would come back.

Allen thought back to the last time he lost. It was so long ago the memory was fuzzy. Let's just say what the others playing poker did to him couldn't hold a candle to what Cross did for not bringing back any money.

That's when the dizziness set in. He held on to nearby mini bar to keep his balance. This time, he knew it was thinking of Cross and not the stigma.

Tyki started shuffling the cards with a sense of pride and a smirk across his face as he waited for Allen to give him an answer. Tyki glanced up as Allen started to fumble by the mini bar. It almost looked like Allen was getting sick, but Tyki didn't believe it. If he could walk all the way there without a problem, there was no way he could be getting sick now. "If you don't want to play, that's fine Allen," he said as he watched Allen with a face of annoyed disbelief, "but don't act like you're sick to get me to avoid playing you."

"Sorry," Allen muttered. He felt like he was going to be sick. "I just remembered General Cross is all..." He still didn't quite feel right. Not right enough to play cards, at least. He managed to get to the table without falling over and put his head down.

"This always happens when anything reminds me of Master," he muttered. "Let's just say he might beat Road on caffeine in my hierarchy of fears."

"Right..." Tyki said in disbelief. He had a feeling Allen was using this as an excuse to avoid playing cards. He sighed, disappointed, and he began to make a tower of cards. "It's quite obvious that you don't want to play because I outwitted you," Tyki said as he started to develop the bottom row of the tower, "but like I said, don't make excuses. Just say it like a man. You'll be respected more by people if you do that."

"You'd be scared of him too if you had to pay off his debts!" Allen snapped, but felt dizzy again. He put his head back in his arms. "I feel sick just thinking about it... All that money..." He shuddered. "If you don't believe me, ask Jasdero and David." He knew that the twins had to deal with Cross's debt when they chased him all over the place. He was pretty sure they still owed the money, too.

Tyki blinked a few times at Allen's outburst and then settled back down as he tried to put reason to his actions. "Oh, I've seen the bills," Tyki corrected Allen. "However, neither the twins or myself get sick by just thinking about that man, just irritated."

Tyki looked at the clock and saw it was drawing near breakfast. He sighed heavily and knocked down his tower, counted to make sure he had all fifty-two, and then put the cards back in their case. "It looks like it's almost time for breakfast," Tyki declared as he put his cards away and locked his mini bar. "Looks like we should be going." Tyki went to the door and looked at Allen, who still sitting at the table. "You sure you can walk still or am I gonna have to carry you?"

"If no one else mentions the words Cross, debt, or wine, I should be okay. Just to safe, don't mention lions either." Allen shuddered as he remembered Kenya. _Best to push that memory to the back of my mind_, Allen thought. He almost had become lion chow that day.

Allen stood up. He felt a lot better already. Pausing a moment, he said, "Tyki, where's the dining room again?" Allen was champion at getting lost.

Tyki rubbed the back of his head and said hesitantly, "It gets kinda complex from my room. I like to sleep away from everyone, so I'm not all that close to the dinning room. However, that's why we put your room four hallways away from the dinning room, two from the Earl's and three from Roads." It just came to Tyki that the two teenagers were actually very close together. _We might want to do something about that,_ he added as a mental note as he said, "Just follow me. I know my way around here."

Tyki guided Allen back through the great number of hallways, cobblestone streets and doors to the dinning room. The twins were sleeping at the table, waiting for food, and Lulubelle was filing her nails. Tyki pulled back Allen's chair to let him sit down and then pushed him in, just to be courteous. Tyki had a feeling Road would be a little hostile still, so he figured that he should be nice to him to counteract her harshness.

Meanwhile, Road silently readied herself for the day. She dressed in her dark purple school uniform just for the heck of it, styled her hair and used a pink ribbon as a string tie around the collar of her uniform. She was still confused about Allen._ He's a Noah yet he can use Innocence_, she wondered as she double-checked herself to make sure she looked adequate. _That's just not right_.

Road strolled on over to the dinning room but stopped in the doorway when she saw Allen sitting down. She sighed and then sat down in the only empty chair—which next to Allen—silently. Since the twins, Lulubelle and the Earl didn't know about Allen's Red Innocence, she didn't want to alert them to it.

Allen didn't know what to do. He could tell just by looking out of the corner of his eye that Road didn't trust him anymore. After her catching him the message, he could understand why. The question was whether or not she distrusted him enough to blab to the others about his Innocence.

He glanced at where the Earl sat and felt his throat go dry. What would the Earl do if he found out? Would he decide to finish him? Or would he destroy Allen's Innocence like all the others? Allen doubted that the Millenium Earl would just leave it be. It was too much of a risk, and Allen knew it.

The Earl's grin turned evil. Now that Allen has recovered, what happened to his Innocence? That question has been bothering him all day. _Well, the best way to find out an answer, _the Earl decided, _is to ask._ "So Allen, my boy, how is your arm? I hope your Innocence is gone." The Earl scrutinized Allen a moment. "I would like to see it after you finish with your meal." The Earl sat back in his chair. If Allen's Innocence is still there, he had to find a way to destroy it... or use it. _Bait_. The Earl smirked to himself. He would have to wait until Allen was finished eating before he could even think about using an Innocence that might not be useful.

Allen almost choked on his omelet that the Akuma maids had brought out. It was as if the Earl had read his mind. "Er... About that, Earl..." Allen started, but stopped. He glanced helplessly at Tyki, hoping he'd be able to help him somehow. He had no idea what to do.

"His Innocence is gone Master Earl," Road said simply and coldly. She took a last spoonful of her cereal and drank the remaining milk, slurping as she did so. She put the bowl down, wiped her mouth politely and then added, "but Tyki and I discovered his Noah power looks similar to his Crown Clown. Right, Tyki?"

Tyki was a little surprised that Road was sticking up for Allen at the moment, but he was able to stutter out, "Uh, y-yes we found that out this morning when we woke him up."

"Mmmm." The Earl looked at Tyki and Road. "I would still like to see his arm." The Earl grinned at Allen. "I would also like to see what your power is and what it can do." The Earl stood up. "I'll see you in my room after you finish eating." The Earl left the dinning room.

"I'm doomed," Allen muttered so only Tyki and Road could hear. He felt queasy just thinking about what the Earl would do to him when he saw the Innocence. Allen was pretty sure it was still Innocence, at least. "What should I do, Tyki?" he asked. "I'm a dead man eating, aren't I?"

"There's a good chance." Tyki said simply, there was no point in lying to him just to try to make him feel better because both knew the Earl was hard to fool. "Don't worry, I'll come with you and try to defend you."

"Same here." Road said to Allen in a not-so-cold voice. "You are our brother after all."

Allen managed a weak smile. "Thanks. I mean it, too," he added. He didn't want to seem sarcastic, especially since they were putting themselves on the line to protect him. He glanced at the remains on his plate and sighed. His appetite had disappeared. "I'm ready to go whenever you are."

Road looked down at her empty bowl of cereal and then said, "Well it looks like we're waiting on Tyki."

Tyki started eating faster so they could get going as soon as possible. _Darn these teenagers and their fast eating_, he thought to himself as he chugged the remainder of his coffee to wash down the toast he'd just crammed down his throat. He wiped his mouth and said, "All right, you two, let's get this over with."

Road nodded and stood up and helped Allen out of his chair, and the three of them slowly walked out of the dinning room, almost cherishing every step they took. They finally reached the tall oak door of the Earl's room and stood there for a minute just staring at it. They were all scared to enter.

Tyki was the first to speak. "Well it was nice knowing both of you. Road, I love you like a brother, no matter how much you annoy me. Allen, you were an honorable opponent."

Road giggle at Tyki's morbid confessions. "I love you like a sister too." Road sighed as she looked at Allen, and she flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly (Tyki looked away as she did this). She loosened her hug to look at him. "We're gonna get you through this. Even if it means you loose an arm...or..." She had a gruesome thought about the Earl killing all three of them. She shook her head and said, "No, we're gonna get you through this and we're all gonna come back out okay."

Allen's throat felt dry as he knocked on the door. "Master Earl," he said politely. He hoped that he could earn some bonus points or something and avoid an early grave.

The door swung open at his touch. Allen tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat, but that only made it worse. He stood still as a statue, waiting for the Earl to invite him inside. He wasn't about to barge in--that would be rude.

The Earl's grin as he heard the knock. "Come in, come in," he said loud enough for them to hear. As he waited for Allen to enter, the Earl knew something was not right. The Earl rocked in his rocking chair, trying to think what was wrong.

Allen took a deep breath as he walked into the room. It was dark inside, and there were plenty of phones surrounding the Earl's rocking chair. "G-Good morning, Master Earl," he said, bowing. He was trying his best to be polite. One wrong move and his fate wasn't the only one sealed. "You wanted to see me?" Maybe if he played dumb, the Earl would forget what he'd called him there for...

"Ah, Allen." The Earl motioned for him to come closer. "What's with all the formality? We _are_ all family here." The Earl's eyes slipped down to Allen's arm. "How is your arm? Is there still Innocence in there? Do you care if you show me?"

The Earl stood up and was just about to reach for Allen arm when the phone rang. "Ah, a call." The Earl looked around. "Which one is it?" He stood for a second then shot off to the left corner of the room to pick up the ring phone. "Hello, my dear!" He forgot about Allen standing behind him as he talked to the woman on the phone.

As the Earl talked on the phone, Allen glanced helplessly at Road and Tyki. What was he supposed to do? Refuse the Earl? He was between a rock and a hard place. The Earl would probably destroy his arm, and maybe the rest of Allen to go along with it.

_I wish Tim were here..._ Allen thought miserably. _Timcanpy could cheer me up..._

* * *

The train stopped suddenly, throwing Lenalee forward. She stopped before hitting the floor. "What happened?" Lenalee asked. There was silence, and then the train shook. This time, Lenalee really did hit the floor. "What's going on?!"

Lavi fell forward and hit the ground hard, just as Lenalee did. He looked around the booth, wondering what was going on. All he heard was the booming of large gun shots. Maybe even canons.

Lavi shakily brought himself to his feet, then helped Lenalee to hers. He grabbed her hand and ran out of the booth, towards the front of the train. Lavi could already tell that the booms were coming from the very front of the train. But unfortunately, they were in the third car.

Once they were on the car's platform, the two tried to look at the front of the train from the side, but couldn't. Lavi looked up at the second car's roof and smirked. "Looks like we're going to have to get on top of the train. We'll be able to see better."

Lavi grabbed a hold of his hammer and said, "Innocence, Activate." The hammer grew large and tall. Lavi set the base onto the train's solid floor, and then lifted Lenalee off her feet, and into his arms. He held onto Lenalee tightly with one arm and the hammer with the other. Quietly, Lavi said, "Extend..."

The hammer's handle rose high above the train, where they could see the front of the train perfectly. They were able to see what was causing the booming and the train to shake:

A Level 2 Akuma.

"We don't have time for this!" Lenalee muttered as she activated her Innocence. She launched at the Level 2. A swift kick sent it flying into the stratosphere, where it exploded.

_I can't even describe how right she is... This is so bothersome!_ Lavi thought as he chased after Lenalee. By the time he got there, she had already finished off the Akuma, but Lavi had a feeling that that wasn't the only Akuma around. There seemed to be no physical signs at the moments... So for now, he and Lenalee would have to be cautious.

Lavi then went inside the engine room, just as Lenalee did. He looked at the three remaining people, trying to see through them and tell whether they were Akuma or not. It was times like this they were overjoyed to have Allen and his eye!

"Is everyone okay?" Lenalee asked the couple of engineers still alive. There was ash where the dead had once been. Lenalee guessed that at least two people were dead.

Two of the engineers nodded slowly. The third one backed away a little and nodded slower than the others. He seemed to staring at Lavi and Lenalee's uniforms, or the crest on their jackets, to be exact. Automatically Lavi didn't trust this guy.

_If only there were more signs of the one guy being an Akuma._ Oh how much Lavi wished for Allen's eye right now... Hell, he wished Allen in whole was here.

Lavi walked closer to Lenalee and whispered into her ear, "These two seem fine, but the one guy seems different. An Akuma? I noticed that he was staring at our crests..."

Lenalee nodded at Lavi's suggestion. She'd noticed the engineer's reaction as well.

Timcanpy, meanwhile, had felt Allen's thought, his wish for the golem to be with his, even though he was miles away. He bounced excitedly as he searched for his Master again.

Just as Lavi lifted his head, he noticed Timcanpy was flying around outside frantically. _Has he found Allen, or at least something related to Allen?! Most likely. _Lavi ran to the window and watched Timcanpy flutter around. He shouted out to the golden golem, "Timcanpy! Have you found Allen?"

She looked at Timcanpy, who was going nuts. She could tell that Tim had found Allen. She turned back to the engineers, her eyes still on the suspicious-looking one. "Can you get this train running again? It's urgent that we keep going."

Two of the engineers looked at each other and nodded. One of them looked back at Lenalee and said, "Yes, we can get it running again, Miss." The two engineers got to work quickly, while the other just stared at Lenalee and Lavi.

Lavi grinned sorrowful at the two engineers and said, "Thank you." He eyed the strange engineer again, then shouted out the window to Timcanpy, "Timcanpy, come closer so Lenalee and I can keep a better eye on you"

Timcanpy flew closer to the train, still frantic and excited. He urgently wanted to go further away, and reach Allen, but he knew that he couldn't leave Lenalee and Lavi behind. He'd just have to wait a little longer.

* * *

The Earl slammed down the phone. "Bugger!" He then turned and looked at Allen. The Earl held out his hand. "Allen let me see that arm! Now!" He just got news that some of Allen's former friends where coming this way. The Earl had to find out if Allen was on his side or theirs. He looked over at Road and Tyki. "Why are you two here?" The Earl said with an eyebrow raised. _What are they hiding?_

"We're still watching him to make sure he's really okay," Road said with a slight smile. She wasn't lying, since they wanted to make sure the Earl wasn't going to kill him.

Allen nervously held out his hand for the Earl to see and winced as the Earl grabbed it roughly in his rage. The Earl was in a bad mood. If it were possible for Allen's chances to get any lower than they had been before, they just did.

"Y-you see, Master Earl..." he said hoarsely, but his voice wouldn't allow him to continue. He could only watch the Earl in horror-struck silence.

The Earl looked down at the arm. "Why is it red?" He looked up at Allen, then Tyki and finally Road for answer. The Earl's rage dissipated. "I never seen a red one..." The Earl lightly touched it. " Active it," The Earl commanded. "I want to see if it can till hurt us."

Allen blinked in surprise. He wasn't dead meat? He stared, dumbfounded by the fact the Earl hadn't decided to kill him instantly.

"Oh! S-sorry!" he said quickly. He'd been spacing out, and the Earl was still waiting rather impatiently for him. He invoked his reversed Crowned Clown and waited for the Earl to pass judgement.

The Earl looked at it. "Hmmm..." The Earl snapped his fingers and an Akuma came in.

"Yes Master?" The Akuma asked. It happened to be the same one that helped Allen get a note to his friends.

"I want you to just stand there and see if Allen can kill you. If you die..." the Earl shrugged, "but if you live, it lets us know that Allen is not a danger to us." He turned back to Allen and nodded at him. "Allen, try to kill this Akuma. Your weapon looks different; I want to see if it act different too."

Allen blinked. "B-but can't most Noah destroy Akuma?" he asked. Road had done it before, after all. He glanced again at Tyki and Road. "I-it didn't hurt Tyki before. He used my arm on himself, and it didn't do anything to him. Right, Tyki?"

He really didn't want to risk using his 'Red Innocence' on the Akuma. If he did destroy it, he wouldn't only be dead--the Akuma's soul would be destroyed as well.

"You' re right. Okay then, Tyki stay still... Allen attack." Earl laughed "If you can't hurt a Noah then I know I can trust you." He looked at Tyki "Is it ok if Allen attacks you, Tyki?"

Tyki sighed; this was getting a little too ridiculous. First attack an Akuma, and now him. Although, with the test the Earl was now giving him, he knew Allen would pass. Tyki just walked up to Allen and said to the Earl, "Here, if I do this, then we'll get it over with much quicker."

He took off his tux and vest and then grabbed Allen's left claw. He showed it to the Earl and pointed at the hand he was holding Allen's with. "See?" he said. "I'm not sustaining any burns." He then dragged Allen closer to him so he could control his arm better and brought it down the middle of his chest. He then let go of Allen and showed the damage—or lack there of—to his chest. His shirt was ripped to shreds and yet he didn't have a scratch on his chest. "See, Master Earl? I'm perfectly fine. He's one of us."

Allen, for a moment, thought that Tyki was being homicidal. Then he remembered that his arm no longer hurt Noah and breathed a sigh of relief. It would take some getting used to. "So, Master Earl?" Allen asked. "Do you trust me...?" He said it quietly. He wasn't sure if he should ask at all, but he had to know.

The Earl laughed. "Yes, yes I trust you," he said as he waved a hand at Allen as if he was being silly. "I just needed to know." The Earls voice grew serious. "It seems people are coming this way. My guess is they're looking for Allen. I'm sure they are worried about him, but they don't need to." The Earl put a hand on his shoulder. "When they get here, Allen will be there to give them a nice warm welcome," he said, mostly talking to himself. "We'll make sure they never go back." He turned his eyes to Allen. "You may go now. Try to find out what your arm can do." The Earl pushed his children out the door and closed the door behind them.

Allen felt a stab of panic. His friends would never go back... The Earl was planning on killing them!

His heart grew heavy. No matter how much he liked his new family, he still cared about his old family--the Order. He didn't want them to die because of him. "I'm not feeling to well," Allen muttered. He felt dizzy and wondered if it was the stigma again. Everything around him spun wildly then went dark as he collapsed.

Once they were out and the door slammed behind them, Tyki replaced his coat and fixed himself up. "Well that went better than expected." He looked down at his shirt and then said, "I wish that didn't trash this shirt. I'm going to have to go change." Tyki started to walk. "I'll meet up with you two later when we find out about our _guests_."

Road was about to say something to Allen when he fell over. "Tyki!" she called out when she caught him.

Tyki wheeled around and saw that Allen had collapsed yet again. "Damn," he said to himself as he ran back over to Allen and picked him up in his arms. "C'mon, let's get him back to his room."

* * *

"You really ought to stop doing that," joked the Noah Allen. He was leaning back against a tree, smiling at his child-self.

Child Allen glared up at his Noah counterpart. "I don't know what you mean!" he snapped. "It's your fault anyway! If it weren't for you, none of this would have ever happened! I would still be with Lenalee and Lavi, and I'd still remember everything!"

Noah Allen chuckled. "True, but you passing out was all you. The Noah genes had nothing to do with that." He stood up and patted the Child Allen's head. "You should go back. Your 'family's' worried about you."

"They aren't... my family..." Child Allen replied sleepily.

* * *

Notes:

This was a really tough chapter to format into the RP, since it kept going back and forth between the Noah and the Exorcists. Sorry if it was a little hard to understand. I did the best I could without changing too much from the original RP. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them. –Sailorstar165


	7. Confrontation

Allen awoke. "Where... am I...?" he asked, not recognizing his room at first. "How long was I asleep?" It felt like he'd been unconscious for hours.

"You're in your room," Tyki replied from Allen's desk chair. He was still shirtless as he waited with his arms crossed. "Relax, you were only asleep for ten minutes." Tyki stood. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to go change." With that, Tyki reluctantly left the two teenagers by themselves.

Road looked at Allen and felt his forehead for a fever; he had none. She sat back, then raised an eye brow at Allen and said in an _I-know-you're-up-to-something_ tone, "You sure that you didn't write anything down that would give away our position to your friends?"

"What? No!" he shouted indignantly, but felt dizzy again. Allen fell back onto his pillow, head spinning. "I just told them I was all right. That was it... Nothing else..." He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to get the room to steady itself.

Road sighed as she saw Allen still in pain. "I'm sorry, I just had to double-check."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, then Allen said, "Road, you're the Noah of Dreams, right? I was wondering..." He hesitated. "Never mind. It's stupid."

The comment intrigued Road and she asked curiously, "What is it Allen?" She leaned in closer like it was a secret. "Oh c'mon, tell me. Please?" She gave him puppy dog eyes in hope that Allen would tell her what he was now hiding from her.

"Well..." Allen couldn't say no to the face Road was making. "I keep having this dream. In it, there are two me's. One me is like I am now, a Noah, and the other me is like when I first became cursed. The Noah me's a jerk, and the younger me's kinda weak and pathetic. I was wondering if you knew what it meant." He'd heard once from Lenalee that dreams had meaning. Being the Noah of Dreams, Allen figured Road might be able to make heads-or-tails of it.

Road sat back and sighed. She knew exactly what he was talking about. "It's not a dream, Allen," she explained, "it's your inner mind you're looking at."

She saw Allen wasn't following her so she took a deep breath and explained, "When... you were having one of your cycles, I entered your mind to try and calm you down. There, I met both your younger half and your Noah half. I think they're two sides of your personality. While the Innocence is in control of your younger half, the stigma created your Noah half... I think..." Road looked at Allen to see if he caught anything she said, but it wasn't looking too good.

Allen stared at her blankly. "So, you're saying I have a split personality?" he asked, confused. He'd read a book about it once, or had it been Mana...? He couldn't remember. Still, the way Road was talking about it made it sound like his brain was messed up because of the stigma.

Road cocked her head to the side in thought and after a few moments said, "Yeah, I guess you could call it a split personality." She wasn't all too sure about all this either. The only other time she had seen something like this was in Lavi, who had forty-nine personalities, but they were all mostly the same. She had never seen two personalities that conflicted with each other, except possibly in Tyki.

She sighed. "What are you planning to do about your friends? If they get too much closer, we will have to do something about that—that "we" includes you as well."

Allen's heart sunk. "Can't I pretend to be sick if that happens?" he asked. He knew his idea wasn't an option, though. "Maybe I could send them another message or something. They're probably following Timcanpy, so I could tell them that they're heading the completely wrong direction..." He sighed. That wasn't an option either.

Road shook her head and said, "The Earl won't sympathize with you if you pretend to be sick in a battle situation and sending another note is too risky since they are so close to us." "I just don't want to have to fight them..." Allen muttered, hugging his knees. "They might be my enemies now that I'm a Noah, but they were once my friends... I don't think... I don't think I could fight them..."

Road sighed and crawled over to Allen and hugged him to make him feel better. She then backed off and tried to think of a solution. An idea came to mind and she proposed, "I suppose... I could always threaten them away... make an empty threat to maybe scare them off. The Earl can't track my movements through my doors."

"You'd do that for me?" Allen asked, wide-eyed. He hugged Road. "Thank you so much!" If they got scared away, then Allen wouldn't have to fight them, nor would he feel guilty about changing sides like this, even if it wasn't his fault. "You're the best, Road!"

He thought a moment. "There's one more thing. If it's not too much to ask... could you tell them 'I'm sorry' for me?" He felt stupid for making such a request, but he wanted to make sure they knew it was over so they'd stop looking for him. He missed them, but it was better if they stopped their search.

Road hugged Allen back when he almost glomped her. She stood up and said, "Just cover for me. They think I'm in here, so if they walk in and I'm not here they're going to get suspicious." She summoned one of her doors and walked through casually to wherever Lenalee and Lavi were.

* * *

The two engineers managed to get the train running again in a matter of minutes. It didn't take to long for it to pick up speed again. One of them walked over to the strange guy and bent down a little, resting his hands on his knees. "Are you alright? You still seem a little spooked."

The strange engineer didn't answer.

The other engineer walked over to them and said, "There's no need to worry anymore. There are exorcists here to keep us safe."

The strange engineer eyed the other two nervously.

Lavi and Lenalee were both staring at the nervous engineer. "Okay... I am beyond convinced that this guy is an akuma. What do you think, Lenalee?" Lavi didn't mean to sound "rude", but he was only speaking the possible truth.

"You're probably right," Lenalee whispered back. "But why hasn't it attacked us yet?" It was true that they could probably defeat it easily, but that fact had never stopped any of the others from trying. Something was up. "Do you think this one has another message?" It was the only possible explanation for its strange behavior.

Lavi shook his head. "No... I don't think it has another letter for us. If it did, it would just come up and give it to us, not cower in a corner." Lavi scratched his head and said, "I know it's not really doing anything, but we should probably destroy it before it destroys us."

Road's door appeared over the engine car and, after she walked through her door, she looked down and saw Allen's friends debating over an Akuma who was acting weird. _Why isn't it attacking them?_ she thought cruelly. _Well... If it won't attack, then it's useless._ She focused her powers on its mind and it started to go crazy. The Akuma started throwing itself up against the wall and then threw itself into the burning fire that was powering the engine.

"That Akuma..." Lenalee said in shock, "just killed itself..." Her eyes were wide, and she looked at Lavi. "Why would it do that...?" She shook her head and tried calm the now panicking engineers.

Road smiled sadistically as she watched the Akuma kill itself, then focused on the other engineers. They stopped panicking and completely ignored Lenalee and Lavi.

She jumped over to the coal cart and sat down on its edge as she said to them, "I made it do that. If an weapon can't kill, then it's obsolete and needs to be deleted." She wore a serious face and then said to them. "Don't come for Allen-kun. Turn back now. I'm letting you live for now, but if you continue this effort, I will come back with the other Noah and the Earl and we will kill you."

Lavi's eyes grew wide as Road appeared in front of him. She was among the large amount of people Lavi did not want to see at the moment. Lavi balled his hands into fists and clenched his teeth. He gave Road a frightening glare. It was bad enough that Road was actually here, but she had some damn nerve trying to get in their way right now

"What makes you think that Lenalee and I are just going to stop our search just because you told us too? I, for one, am more than willing to risk my life to get Allen back home."

He knew for a fact that this wouldn't change a thing, and he knew more than anything that it would be best just to turn back now. But he couldn't. He just couldn't. To Lavi, it would feel like he was turning his back on Allen and Lenalee.

Not only that, Lavi had a feeling that Road did not come to warn them of her own free will. Allen had something to do with it, and just stalling like this was one way to get something out of her.

Road sighed at Lavi's inspiring resolve. _I guess the threats aren't going to work,_ she thought to herself. _I probably should have known that._ She grumbled for a second, then yelled at the two exorcists, "Because Allen doesn't want to fight you and he wants you to live! I'm doing this to make sure Allen's happy! We're treating him like family and he's more than happy with us until he found out you were chasing after him!"

She hung her head. _These exorcists are so damn irritating_. She then looked at them again and explained in a calmer tone, "The Earl will force him to fight you if you come any closer. I don't know about you, but if I was him, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to fight my old friends and family." Her door appeared over the pile of coal. "He says he's sorry, so please, for your own sakes and his, _do not come_!" And with that she exited through her door.

Lenalee couldn't believe what she was hearing. Allen? Happy with the Noah? She didn't want to believe it, but something told her it was true.

She turned to Lavi, tears in her eyes. "What should we do, Lavi? Should we turn back? I don't want to have to fight Allen, and I'm sure he doesn't want to fight us... We can't turn our backs on him, but..." She felt the tears roll down her cheeks and buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook with her muffled sobs. "Lavi, are we even doing the right thing?"

Lavi wrapped his arms around Lenalee gently, but with a tight grasp. He laid her head against his chest and brought them down on the ground to sit. Sorrow filled his face as he gently rubbed the top of Lenalee's head. He didn't know what to think.

"Honestly...I don't really know anymore, Lenalee. I mean, if we go back now, we're bound to get into trouble with the Order. But what would we get out of all of this if we turn back now, and then get screamed at? Nothing. We've come so far already, and now all I want to see is Allen just one more time."

Lavi slowly closed his eyes. Going through his mind were various memories and images of Allen, both good and bad times. He so desperately wanted to see Allen's smiling face again.

Lavi held Lenalee closer, tighter. "After seeing and hearing what Road had to say, I think Allen's going to be okay, but... I don't think I can completely believe it until I see it, even if it were just for a second."

Lavi gently let go of Lenalee and stood. He looked down at her with a sorrowful grin and said, "Well, what do you say? Should we see Allen's smiling face one more time?"

Lenalee nodded. "I want to make sure this is over. If Allen never wants to see us again, I want to hear it from him, not Road or any other Noah." It felt weird being comforted by Lavi, a Bookman. Bookmen weren't supposed to care about people, and yet here Lavi was, trying to help her and Allen. "Lavi, if this gets you into trouble, I'm sorry. It was my stupid idea to search for him."

Lavi frowned and pulled Lenalee up to her feet. Hearing that from her made him sad. He knew exactly what she was thinking. And in all honestly, he didn't care whether he got in trouble or not.

"Lenalee, I don't care if I get in trouble. I wanted to go and get Allen back just as much as you. So don't worry about it. It was my choice to leave, not yours." He rubbed Lenalee on the head and grinned. "We best stay up here and look out for Akuma, got it?"

Lenalee nodded. "Thanks, Lavi," she whispered. She reached out for Timcanpy and held him close to her. "We're almost there, right Tim?" she asked the gold golem. "Then we'll be able to bring him back with us and see if the Order can turn him back to normal."

She was just trying to make herself believe everything would go back to the way it was. She doubted everything would ever be the same. They would probably kill Allen, even if he hadn't wanted to betray them. He'd still become a Noah...

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Headquarters, Lvellie was angry. Both Lavi and Lenalee had run off after Allen, despite his Orders. "Kanda!" he snapped as the black-haired exorcist finally entered the office. "I want you to go find the exorcists Lavi and Lenalee Lee and bring them back here. Understand?"

Kanda faced Lvellie, but refused to look at him in the eyes. Even to Kanda, Lvellie's eyes seemed to be those of the devil. "Fine." Kanda turned and walked toward the exit. He stopped in the doorway, and said, without looking back, "But it's pointless."

With that said, Kanda left the room. He had a long, bothersome search to go on.

* * *

Notes from sailorstar165:

Twilight had originally said Lavi had 26 "personalities," but my brother said there were 49. I went with 49 because I seem to remember that number from the manga. If anyone knows they actual number, please tell me. Thank you!

"That Akuma just killed itself" was a very popular line in the RP. I hope it made you all chuckle.

This chapter was a lot shorter than the others. Sorry it took so long!


	8. Mission

**Chapter 8**

Kanda rested his cheek on his fist as he read through a bunch of random papers that Komui had given him. In order to find Lavi and Lenalee, Kanda had to go find information about where the Noah's ark might be. Komui did ask him why he wanted this information. Kanda's reply was, "Lvellie ordered me to."

If it wasn't for the fact that Lenalee was out with Lavi too, Kanda would've just told Komui the truth, but he was in no mood to hear Komui complain about Lenalee being gone. No one ever was.

So as of now, Kanda was sitting on a train, heading up north. He didn't know where to exactly, but various workers at the train station said that they saw two exorcists board the train. Their descriptions were exactly like Lavi and Lenalee.

"There's no point in going to get them. Neither of them will give up until they see the bean sprout."

* * *

Tyki finally got a new shirt and decided to go back to Allen's room to check up on him. _I'm not really trusting some of his sick spells anymore_, he thought to himself. _He seems to get sick at too convenient times... but for all I know he really could be sick._ He came up to his door and knocked. "Allen?" He didn't get a response from Allen right away so he yelled again. "Road? How's Allen?"

_Crap! _Allen opened the door. "I'm feeling a little better," he said, "so Road went off to do something. I think she went to her room to play with her toys or something because she's mad at me." He hoped that Tyki would buy his lie. "Anyway, sorry for passing out on you. I'm not sure what happened..."

The Noah version of himself in his dream had told him that he'd done it himself, but how? He wasn't paying much attention to Tyki as he thought about how and why he'd passed out. It was a real mystery to him.

Tyki raised an eyebrow to the door. "All right, then. I'm going to go check up on her." He was about to walk away when he said, "Listen Allen... about your friends..." He was going to say something to try and comfort Allen, but he couldn't think of anything good to say. So instead he settled for, "I'll try to find a way for you to get out of this. See you later." With that Tyki walked off solemnly.

A hint of sadness was building up in Road as she thought about how they talked about Allen like that. The door reappeared in Allen's room, and she came out, tears welling up in her eyes. "Well, I did my best," she said as she tried to hold back her emotions, "I guess we'll see how stubborn your friends are when the Earl comes for us..." She sniffled and made her way towards the door.

"Thanks, Road," Allen said. He pulled Road into a hug when she passed by. She was crying, her small shoulders shaking even as Allen held her. "Thank you for everything."

He released her and said, "You should get to your room. Tyki was looking for you, so I said I thought you went to go play with your toys."

After Allen let go of Road, she jumped back to him and hugged him herself. She started sobbing uncontrollably into his chest. "Baka... They're both baka." She didn't want Allen to have to fight his old friends. She would do it her self, but she knew if they came, the Earl would make him fight. Road could only imagine what it would be like to be forced to fight someone like Tyki and how dreadful it would be. She wanted to make other curses at the two exorcists, but she didn't want to upset Allen so she just kept her thoughts to herself and cried. Hopefully, being in his embrace would comfort her.

Allen was taken aback by Road's sobbing. "Road..." he hugged her tightly as she cried into his chest. "Did they say something to you or attack you?" He wasn't sure what was bothering her so much, but he wanted to make her feel better. He hated seeing her so upset like this. He held her tighter and rested his chin on her head. "Everything'll turn out all right, you'll see."

Tyki finally got to Road's room and knocked on the door. "Road?" It was dead silent inside. Tyki opened the door and peered into her room; she was no where to be found. Tyki sighed and then said to himself, "Allen you dog..."

Tyki then slipped into the ground and glided over to Allen's room, reappeared at the door and then casually walked through the door. When he was on the other side, he saw Road sobbing in Allen's arms. He glared at Allen and then he said to him in a voice rising in anger, "Allen...." As much as he liked Allen, this scene wasn't doing the any favors.

Allen's glanced around for Tyki, only to discover the Noah had walked right through his door. He looked pissed, too. "Er... Hi, Tyki... I, uh... found Road..." He wasn't sure what the scene looked like to Tyki, but Allen was sure it didn't look good.

To Tyki, it looked to him as if Allen had hid Road when he came to his room, then asked or did something to Road and that caused her to cry. From that, it looked like Allen was trying to suck up to Road to get her to feel better and to get her to forget about whatever he did. It seemed now Road was trying to compile herself to speak, but she kept sobbing so she was unable to really speak.

"First you tell me she's mad at you and in her room," Tyki started with apparent irritation in his voice. "Now she's crying her in your room. What the hell is going on here?" Tyki held his hand up and one of his Tease phased through his palm and gently fluttered its wings as it sat in his hand. "And your explanation better be good."

"Um... Uh..." Allen didn't know what to say. The Tease wasn't a good sign. Tease were NEVER a good sign. "T-that Tease isn't going to eat me if you don't like my answer, will it...?" he asked nervously. After the one that ate a hole in his heart, he never, EVER wanted to see another of the man-eating butterflies ever again. Still, if Allen didn't answer, Tyki would probably sick it on him.

"I'm not sure," Tyki said as the butterfly started fluttering around, "you tell me..."

Allen gulped nervously. "I asked Road to tell my former friends to stop looking for me." It hurt to stress former, but he knew he had to if he wanted to satisfy Tyki. "I'm not sure what happened, but I think they were jerks to Road or something like that." He hoped to God that Tyki wouldn't kill him.

As Allen tried to give an explanation the Tease slowly fluttered towards Allen, and by the time he finished, it was fluttering around Allen's head. Tyki raised an eyebrow at Allen's story. "Oh c'mon. You think I'm going to believe that?" The Tease then fluttered down and landed on Allen's shoulder. "What really..."

Allen's legs almost gave out on him when the Tease landed on his shoulder. He could see its small teeth ready to bite into him. He couldn't take his eyes off the dangerous creature. One word from its master, and he was done for.

In her fit of crying, Road swatted away the Tease and the butterfly retreated back to its master. "Get that away from Allen!" she yelled at Tyki through her tears, and she then hugged Allen tighter to try and comfort him now. She knew that had to be terrifying. "What he said," she said through her sobs, "is true... I tried... to get them... away... but the baka... wouldn't listen... and then got emotional... a-and..." She started up again and said, "I-I couldn't help myself..."

After about ten more seconds of crying she looked at Tyki and saw he had a face of unmoved disbelief. She cried back at him, "Oh come on! You want to help Allen too. It was the only thing we could think of!"

Allen almost collapsed in relief when Road swatted the man-eater away. "I'm sorry... This is my fault..." Allen muttered. "If I... would just let go of the Order, none of this would be a problem..." What he really wanted to say was "If I wasn't a Noah," but he couldn't bring himself to say something so cruel to his new family. "If I wasn't so damn attached to them still..." He balled his hand into a fist. He didn't want to say these things about his friends, but he had to. If he didn't, Tyki would probably get mad at him and Road for defending him. It was the only way.

Tyki listened intently as Allen spouted out his words of a Noah's resolve. A smile started to play across his face. When Allen was done he closed his eyes and smirked but thought, _He's just saying that. I can almost guarantee he still attached to his friends, but for him to say something like that shows that he is growing fonder of us._ Tyki figured that if he should disprove Allen right here and now, he might spark some more negativity with Allen and/or Road. "Then detach yourself," Tyki said with a smirk. "Throw off the shackles of your former life. Rise above that which you were. You're over them, Beyond them. You're more than human, you're a Noah."

Tyki's point of this was to rally Allen's feelings more towards his new family, seeing how he was already on a roll. He knew if Allen didn't react positively to this speech, he was still too attached and maybe couldn't be trusted. However, if he at least pretended to be inspired, that meant Tyki had enough influence over him to corrupt his indestructible resolve and pride as an exorcist.

Allen smiled weakly. "I wish it were as easy as you make it sound... I'll try my best to forget them."

He could feel his resolve weakening. Even though he knew it was wrong, he cared about his new family. He was an exorcist, but he'd never be able to go back to the Order. Not now that he was a Noah. He felt the tears in his eyes, and stubbornly tried to hold them back. They came anyway. "I don't care about those exorcists at all," he said bitterly. He didn't want Tyki or Road to see him cry, but he couldn't help it. It hurt to have to hate his old friends--his old family.

Tyki got the reply he was looking for. _My job here is done._ He then noticed Allen was starting to break down into tears. _Oh great,_ he thought to himself. _If I stay here any long I'm gonna start crying._ Tyki turned for the door and said sympathetically, "If...either of you need me, just give me a holler." With that, Tyki walked back through the door and left the teens to let their emotions out.

Road was starting to get a hold of herself, and she looked up at Allen's face and saw he was crying. She sniffled and said sympathetically, "Allen..." She wiped away his tears and helped him over to the edge of his bed and sat him down. She was still crying herself so she hugged Allen for comfort and to comfort him and rested her forehead on his shoulder. She hated showing her weaker side and was pretty sure Allen felt the same. One thought passed through her head as she continued to cry with Allen, _Those damn exorcists will PAY!!!_

Allen wiped away his tears. "I'm not being much help in cheering you up, am I, Road?" He hugged Road back, trying his best to comfort her. "It's all my fault you're upset anyway. If I hadn't asked you to go, you wouldn't have had to deal with them."

Road wiped away the last of her own tears but was still sniffling and slightly trembling. She shook her head and said, " No, no Allen," she hugged him tighter to comfort him and said, "just being here helped a lot... Thank you."

He sighed and released Road. "Road, what am I going to do? If they don't give up like you told them to, I'll have to fight them, but I don't think I can..." He ruffled his hair in irritation. "This is so annoying! I feel so useless!"

A thought passed through her mind when she heard the word 'useless'. A smile played across her face and she scooted closer into Allen, rested her chin on his shoulder, and looked up at him with glistening eyes. "Allen... you're a genius."

She saw Allen wasn't following so she explained, "If you prove to be useless in battle, then you won't have to fight. Take a good hit from your friends and act like you're out cold. That way, the Earl can't make you fight and then Tyki and I and the twins and Lulubelle can finish them off for you." She smiled for Allen and hoped that he liked her plan, and if not, her smile was sure to at least brighten his mood a little.

Allen still didn't like the idea of his friends getting killed, but at least if he pretended to be out cold, he wouldn't have to fight his friends. "That's a good idea, Road. Thanks." He knew his smile was still sad and empty, but at least he could manage one.

"Now the only thing I have to worry about right now is looking human," he muttered. "Isn't there some shortcut to getting out of this Noah form? It's starting to bug me."

Road shook her head. "That's something you have to learn on your own. You have to have a memory or a feeling that makes you human. For me, I think about being a nice little girl and what that's like." She tensed up while wearing a smile, like she was gleeful about something. Then her scars receded into her forehead and her dark skin seemed to crawl back into her clothes and she looked human again. She opened her now violet eyes instead of her golden ones. "Tyki does this by thinking about his digging buddies," she added. "I think the twins think about themselves separately, and Lulubelle thinks about being admired as a human." She smiled at Allen. "You just have to find that one thing that makes you human."

"Something that makes me human?" Allen repeated. He thought hard for a moment. Thinking of his friends obviously didn't do it, so there had to be something else. Timcanpy didn't work, nor did playing cards. He dodged around thinking about Cross, knowing that would just make him feel ill again. His memories of Mana were full of holes and didn't help at all. The Order wasn't doing the trick either. "I can't think of anything. Nothing's really helping at all." He hoped Road would have some ideas.

Road shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm not sure what to tell you then. This is why we have to learn it ourselves. None of use grew up together."

It was then that the doors to Allen's room burst open and the twins were at the doorway almost panting.

"Oto-kun!" Jasdero yelled "Are you still alive?"

David saw Allen was okay and hit Jasdero in the head. "Look baka! He's sitting here with Road. He's fine."

Jasdero saw Allen was okay as well, ran up to him, hugged him and started almost crying. "Oh Oto-kun. We heard about your visit with the Earl and how you might still have had Innocence and that he might have killed you. Oh, we're glad that you're okay."

David pulled Jasdero off Allen and said, "Stop over reacting. There's no way the Earl would have killed one of us." He looked down at Allen and admitted, "But I was a little worried about your arm. If you lost that, then we wouldn't be able to learn how to juggle."

Allen sat there as Jasdero and David fought, slightly stunned. He'd gotten used to Road and Tyki worrying about him, but the twins were a different story altogether. "Er... It's possible to juggle one-handed," he said lamely. The twins had surprised him, bursting in there and glomping him, so his brain was a little jumbled.

He shook his head, collecting his thoughts. "Sorry to worry you two," Allen said. He was surprised to find that the smile he gave them was actually the real thing and not just a mask to keep them from freaking out more.

Road blinked a number of times as she watched the twins fawned over Allen in complete surprise. _Well..._ she thought, _that's a first..._ "Well, I suppose I should leave you guys alone," she said with a smile and went to the door. She started to close the doors but before she closed it all the way, she stopped and looked at Allen over her shoulder. "Give me a holler if you need me," she said with a playful wink to Allen and shut the doors completely. As she walked back to her room, she said to herself, "Well... it seems Allen-kun is finally starting to take a natural liking to us." She stopped for a minute when a depressing thought passed through her mind. "Let's just see how that holds after he sees his friends again..."

Both of the twins caught that little wink towards Allen and they started picking on him for laughs. "Ohhhhh..." David started sarcastically, "she's got an eye for you Oto-kun."

Jasdero snickered and said, "Do you have an eye for her? You spend more than enough time with her alone."

The two of them linked arms, pointed their pistols at each other and swung around like they were square dancing. "Road and Allen sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" They both laughed after they finished their song.

Once they were done laughing they both pulled out three apples each and asked in unison, "So how do you do this Oto-kun?"

Allen was beet red. He didn't even attempt to correct the twins; he knew they wouldn't listen.

He took two of the apples from the twins. "Well, the easiest way to learn is to start with two," he explained. "You just throw one in the air and catch it in the other after tossing the second one to your other hand." He demonstrated, then handed them back. "Now you guys try."

They watched Allen juggle the two apples and then looked at the apples in their hands.

David was the first to try. He threw one in the air lazily, then threw the other into his empty hand and then caught the other apple. The twins both smiled at each other. David tried it again and was successful and then did again and tried it twice in a row. Both the twins were getting all worked up and David kept going with it and had a good rhythm down and said while he was juggling, "Look Jasdero! I'm a clown like Oto-kun!"

Allen was impressed. He remembered having had to go through the motions a million times as a child before learning how to juggle. Of course, his hand hadn't worked properly at the time, so that could have been the cause of many of his failures.

"Great job, you two," Allen said, signaling the two to stop juggling. He showed them how to juggle three and explained as he did so. "Three's a little trickier. You have to throw them a little higher and really pay attention to what you're doing. Try not to hit yourselves in the head with the apples." He grinned at the thought. He could see it now: one would miss, hit the other, and all hell would break loose.

Jasdero and David looked at the three apples in each of their hands, unsure if they could do this. Jasdero was the first to try. He threw one in the air, then the second and tried to catch the first as he threw the second; he ended up dropping all three apples. He picked them up and tried it again. He still failed. He tried a third time and failed, but this time, David started laughing at him.

"Baka Jasdero!" David said. "You can't be a clown if you keep dropping them."

"Well, let's see you try it!" Jasdero said back with a sly snicker.

David threw the first in the air, then the second, caught the first and threw the third. However, right before he caught the second successfully, Jasdero drew his pistol and shot the apple into bits. The other two fell to the ground.

"Let's see you juggle apple sauce, Hee hee." Jasdero snickered as he got his revenge for David making fun of him.

"You'll pay for that," David said angrily as he wiped the apple juice from his face. The two then began wrestling each other and firing their pistols.

Allen ducked a blue bomb. "Guys! You're going to destroy my room!" he cried, dodging another shot. "Break it up!" But the twins ignored him. He dodged again, but tripped. Another shot was coming at him, but he wouldn't be able to get up in time to dodge.

Desperate, Allen activated his Crowned Clown and slashed the at ice bomb. His arm was frozen, but that was better than being an ice cube.

In the midst of their fighting, the twins realized that one of their shots hit Allen. "Oto-kun?!?" they asked simultaneously as they waited for the cold fog to fade. Once it did, they both saw that Allen's Innocence was invoked. They backed against walls on opposite side of the room in fear of Allen's Innocence, not even realizing that the colors were reversed.

David pointed his pistol nervously at him and said in horror, "O-O-O--O-Oto-kun still has Innocence!"

Jasdero looked at his brother and asked, "What do we do, David?" He added a weak snicker.

David looked back at Jasdero, then the door, then his twin again. They nodded their heads and ran for the door. They then went running and shouting through the halls, "Allen still has Innocence! Allen still has Innocence! Help US!!!"

Allen grabbed them both with his now black hand. "Guys! It's all right!" he snapped. He didn't want them making everyone panic for no reason. "My Innocence doesn't hurt Noah! Tyki tested it on himself three times already!" It wasn't like he was trying to scare the twins. It had been his only defense to being an ice sculpture. "It's not dangerous! The Earl already declared it safe."

It was then that Tyki came from the floor with his top hat in hand and asked rhetorically, "What the hell is all that racket?" He then saw the spectacle in front of him of the twins panicking while Allen was holding them back. "It's the twins," he said in an irritated voice. "What a surprise." He walked over to them and said, "Guys he's clean. Stop freaking out." He grabbed Allen's claw and sliced it across his throat. Tyki then presented his clean throat and said, "See? Now shut it."

The twins jumped towards Tyki as he tried to cut his throat. They stopped once they saw that he was okay and blinked twice in unison. They slowly looked back and forth between Allen and Tyki and then asked Allen, "If you're a Noah, then why do you still have that Innocence form?"

"I have no idea," Allen admitted. "Not even the Earl knows, or if he does he won't tell me." Allen sighed as he looked at his arm. "I don't know why, but it feels weird to still have my arm the way it is. It feels... cold." Maybe it was because it had transformed with the rest of him, but the Innocence seemed so different than it had been before. That difference made Allen uncomfortable.

The Earl popped out of nowhere as he always did. "Hello my dears!" His smile grew. "I have a job for all of you and Road." He cast a look at everyone in the hallway. "You all are going to find an Innocence and to see what your arm can do, Allen. You all will destroy the Innocence when you find it." He gave Tyki and the twins a look that told them that they had to watch Allen closely. "It should be in Denmark. I was nice enough to get more information." The Earl chuckled and handed Tyki a folder. "Hope to see you soon. Call me if something goes right or wrong." He walked out away but turned back around. "Oh, and buy me something good" he added. He left his children alone to think and look over the information.

The twins became excited now; they hadn't been on a mission for the longest of times. The last time they were allowed out was when they had to go find General Cross, which didn't go very well. The slunk to either side of Allen, wrapped an arm around the boy, pointed their pistols at each other and asked Tyki in unison, "Can we come with Oto-kun?!?"

Tyki eyed the twins as he opened the folder the Earl gave them and looked over the girl's bio. The girl was 14-years-old, about Allen's height, with shoulder length blond hair. It's speculated that her Innocence is a Harpoon-like equip-type. "If you two really want to tag along, I guess so," Tyki said as he read up on the exact location in Denmark. "However, with all the Akuma we have and Allen on our side, I don't think you'll end up doing much."

Tyki looked over the rest of the file and then said as he closed it, "Allen, can you go get Road and tell her we have an assignment? She should be in her room."

Allen nodded mechanically. He'd known it was going to happen sooner or later. He was a Noah, after all. It was obvious that he'd have to destroy an Innocence and possibly end someone's life, just like the other Noah.

He walked to Road's room and knocked on the door. "Road, we have an assignment from the Earl," he said. He wasn't sure what else to say, so he stood a moment and waited to see if Road had heard him.

When Road went back to her room after the twins interrupted her time with Allen, she decided that it would be best to freshen up a little and change into her comfortable clothes. She wanted to be prepared for when Allen's friends showed up; she had a feeling they wouldn't turn back. Road was in the middle of changing when a knock came at the door. She covered herself up with her arms when she heard it was Allen. "J-J-Just a minute." As much as she liked Allen, she was no where near ready for Allen to see her half naked.

She dressed as quickly as possible, and answered the door; her tie was still hanging off of her collar, the top button of her blouse was still undone and her buckle shoes were yet to be found. "Yes, Allen-kun?" she asked again when she popped her head out of the door, panting slightly from her speedy change.

"We're supposed to kill an accommodater," Allen mumbled. "The Earl wanted you to come and help, since I'm apparently not trustworthy yet." Allen smiled. "Need some help finding your shoes?"

Road blushed a little as Allen called her out on her ill preparations, looked down and buttoned the top button on her blouse. "Gomen, I was... changing when you... knocked." She cleared her throat as she pushed the door open more and said, "If you want to help me, you can."

Road's room was hot pink and black like how Allen's was silver and black. Her room was rounded, unlike most rooms that were rectangular. Her bed was dead center of the room with the backboard pushed up against the back wall. A pile of stuffed animals adorned either side of her bed that came up to the top of her mattress. Her covers were all pink with black silk sheets underneath. A door to one side of the room that led to her bathroom while a pink and black kotatsu was to the other side of the room with a tea set adorning the top.

"I'm not too sure where they went to," Road said as she straightened to tie her ribbon. "They might have gotten to under the bed or the kotatsu."

Allen got down on all fours and looked. It wasn't under the bed, so Allen checked under the kotatsu. "Here they are!" He triumphantly pulled the shoes out from under. "Here, Road," he said, handing them to her. "So let's go before Tyki and the Twins start wondering where we are and what we're up to."

"Thank you Allen. It would have taken me forever to find them." Road slipped her shoes on, buckled them and then hugged Allen and said, "Oh now, why would they have room to worry?" Road giggled as she skipped for the door.

As she ushered Allen out of her room and shut the door she started, "It's not that the Earl doesn't trust you... to carry out a mission by yourself... but we travel now in groups after..." Road stopped for a moment. The reason was because Tyki was almost was killed by General Cross and Allen and because Lavi almost killed her. "...our last run in with exorcists..." she said as her voice trailed off, not wanting to draw attention to Allen's past.

Even though Road hadn't said it, Allen knew exactly what she meant. "I'm sorry about that. Back then... I was still an exorcist and had to fight you guys. If I'd known any of this was going to happen..." If he'd known, he would have killed himself. It wasn't exactly reassuring to think of that, either. "So how do you destroy Innocence?" He had to seem like he wanted to be on this mission.

"You use your Noah powers," Tyki said as he and the twins came up on the two teenagers. It was only a minute after Allen left that he decided it was probably a bad idea to leave the two of them alone for too long anymore after the last time he walked up on the two. "As you might know, we Noah are the force opposite of the Innocence. Like the sun and the moon in which only the moon can force the brilliance of the sun to subdue to darkness, only we Noah can destroy the Innocence." Tyki held his left hand up to his shoulder and it sparked quickly with purple lighting. "I reject the atmosphere around the Innocence and the pressure of the vacuum crushes it."

Jasdero and David held their pistols up. "We use Red and Blue Bombs."

Road looked down in shame. "I-I can't really destroy Innocence..." There was an eerily quiet pause after that statement. Tyki and the twins knew exactly why, so they didn't say anything about it. "As you know, my powers are with the mind," Road explained. "I can't cause physical harm accept with my candles, but they're just a tool like Tyki's Tease and the Twins' guns. I kill the exorcist before I take the Innocence and give it to someone else to destroy..." Road smiled awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head to try and avoid the subject of her incompetence.

"Then what makes you think I can destroy Innocence?" Allen asked. "Maybe my... what did you call it... _Red Innocence_ can't destroy Innocence..." He knew that was a slim chance, though. He had a feeling he wouldn't get that lucky.

"Possibly," Tyki stated plainly. "We still don't know for sure if that's your Noah power." Just then two tease with Tyki's top hat on their backs came floating done the hallway. Tyki took his hat from them and placed it on his head. "Well then, let's be on our way."

Tyki lead the group towards the center of the Ark—where the tower was--and started looking for a specific building along the water's edge. When he found the right door, he took out Road's key, held the file under his arm and locked and unlocked the door. "The informer skipped out on the girl's exact location," Tyki admitted as he pocketed the key and kept a hold on the file, "so we need to look for her."

Before he opened the door again, Tyki, Road, and the twins stood for a minute with their eyes closed. As they did, their scars faded and their skin became normal. The all looked at Allen and tried to figure out how they would hide his scars, knowing that he couldn't change yet. Tyki got an idea, took off his top hat and placed it on Allen's head. The hat was a little big on him, but the brim of the hat stopped in the middle of his forehead so the scars weren't as noticeable.

"That should work for now," Tyki declared as he turned around and opened the door. "Let's go guys. I wanna finish this mission as quickly as possible."

Allen felt himself blush as Tyki gave him his hat. He still couldn't shift to a human-like form, so he did have to hide the scars some other way. "So are we going to split up?" he asked as he followed Tyki out the door, "or are we going to have Akuma look for us and just go to where the girl is when they find her?" He wasn't sure on how the Noah family preferred to work, so he'd leave it up to them to decide.

"I've already sent some level twos to go scout for us while you were getting Road," Tyki said to Allen. The five Noah emerged on the other side in an alleyway. Tyki led them all out of the alley into a market street with food carts and small shops almost every ten feet.

"However," Tyki said as he placed a hand on Allen's shoulder, "until they report back to us, why don't we go find you some new clothes and get you out of my old rags?" Allen was still wearing the clothes Tyki had given him this morning, and Allen needed more sets of clothes than just his outfit he had on when Tyki brought him to the Ark.

"Yay!" Jasdero and David exclaimed together as they ran out into the street. "We're going shopping with Oto-kun!" They were about to go crazy like they usually did until Tyki ruined their fun.

"I swear, if you two pull out those guns..." Tyki shouted at the twins sternly. It was going to be bad enough with Allen's skin color, but he didn't want anymore attention drawn to their little caravan.

"Well then," Road said as she walked up besides Allen, "lets go get you something comfortable to wear."

Allen nodded and allowed Road to drag him toward one of the stores. His jaw dropped when he saw how expensive the store was. "I... I can't afford this..." he muttered weakly.

"We're a supposedly evil organization bent on destroying the earth," Tyki muttered back to Allen so no one outside of their little group could hear him. Tyki reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out a short stack of high value bills, all folded in half and bound together with a money clip. "Wouldn't you think we have money to spare? Now pick some shops and we'll get you at least three more outfits so you have some clothes for the week."

Allen opened and closed his mouth a few times in an attempt to say something, but no sound would come out. So, he just settled for a shaky nod. Because he had no better idea, he entered the store Road had dragged them into. He pulled the hat a little farther over his forehead to make sure the stigma was still hidden, then realized it was pointless. No one else was in the store except the shop keeper, and he could already tell she was an Akuma.

"Good morning," Allen said to her.

"M-Master Noah!" the Akuma squeaked. "I-It's a pleasure to have you in the store. What may I do for you?" She glanced at Tyki and the rest of the Noah family, unsure of the newest addition.

"Hiya Margaret!" Road waved to the familiar Akuma. Road dragged Allen here first because this was one of her favorite stores. When and if Road really liked the clothing at a certain store, she usually had the storeowner killed and replaced with level two Akuma so she could get clothes for a discount. She had five such stores all over Europe and one in Japan. "Allen-kun needs some new clothes, so we were hoping you'd have something for him."

When Tyki was fairly certain that Allen was in halfway decent hands, Tyki left for the front of the store and lit up a cigarette. _God..._ he thought irritably. _It might have been a bad idea to bring the twins and Road to shop with Allen, but we'll see how this goes._

"C'mon Oto-kun," Jasdero said as he pushed Allen towards the guy section.

"Yeah, let's find you something stylish," David added as he started to pick things off from the shelves. With the help of Road, the twins picked out a number of clothes and started shoving them in Allen's hands to try on, but they kept changing their minds and kept giving him different clothes and taking some back. It was mayhem in the section of the store they were in. Thank God no one else was in the store.

"Try these on Oto-kun." they kept saying any time they pushed clothes into Allen's hands.

Tyki finished his cigarette quickly, afraid of what might happen if they left the four of them alone for too long. Tyki stomped out the butt and then walked into the store to see the twins throwing clothes into the large wad that was accumulating in Allen's arms. Poor Allen looked like he was about to fall over from the weight of all the clothes.

Tyki sighed and walked over to Allen. He looked at some of the clothes in the piles and saw they from a wide range of the spectrum. There were clothes in there that looked like the twins and Tyki thought he saw two dresses in the pile as well. "Put the clothes down Allen," Tyki said as he pointed to the fairly empty table next to them.

Once Allen complied, Tyki shifted through the clothes and threw out all of the ridiculous clothing that the twins (and Road) picked out. Tyki then organized the good clothing into outfits that he thought worked. One outfit was a traditional black tux, cummerbund, bow tie and white, frilled shirt. Another consisted of a dark brown leather jacket, brown dress pants, a dark blue dress shirt and a brown fedora. The third was a white jacket, white pants, a black dress shirt and a deep red tie. "Try _these_ on," Tyki said sternly, glaring at the twins as he did so.

Allen nodded and went into one of the changing rooms. He tried on each outfit and smiled. Tyki'd picked out some pretty good clothes. He stepped out in each outfit, the last being the white one. "I don't like the frilly shirt, but the others look good," Allen said. He put the frilly shirt on the table with the other rejects and picked out a plain white dress shirt instead. He'd probably just wear it under a vest like always, anyway.

"Um, Akuma? Can I just wear this one out?" Allen asked.

The Akuma nodded quickly. "Of course!" she said. She rung up the outfits, making sure to give a huge discount for each thing. "Thank you very much, Master Noah. Have a nice day."

After the clothes were bagged along with the outfit Tyki gave Allen this morning, Jasdero took the bags and ran out of the store. David was hot on his heels. "Can we go shopping more often?" David asked Tyki in an excited tone.

"Yeah that was fun!" Jasdero said as he added a snicker. Both Twins thought Allen looked good in the outfits Tyki had picked out for him, although they would have liked it better if he picked out some clothes that matched theirs.

"Well, that was fun," Road said as she exited the store with Allen, "until Tyki came and ruined it." Road took a good look at Allen in his new clothes. She approved greatly; Road thought the clothes matching his hair was a good look for him.

Tyki exited the store and sighed as he listened to his fellow Noah. "You guys would have torn that store apart and buried Allen alive if I hadn't step in." Tyki took another quick glance at Allen and approved again in his mind. He liked to think he had some sense of fashion when it came to his dark side; he couldn't care less when he was with his digging buddies.

A man walked up to Tyki in semi-casual clothing and handed Tyki a note. "We found her, milord," The Akuma mumbled to Tyki, "just north of here towards the harbor."

Tyki nodded as the Akuma walked away. "Sorry guys," he said as he ran his fingers through his hair. "We can't go to another shop because we got work to do. The girl is north of here. We should probably get moving."

Allen felt himself go pale. This was it. He'd have to prove his worth as a Noah... That meant murdering a girl and destroying her Innocence. He felt like he'd be sick at the thought. He covered his mouth with his hand and closed his eyes in an attempt to settle his stomach and hold back the bile. _I have to stay calm,_ he thought, _taking a few deep breaths._

After the twins were done complaining about not doing more shopping, Tyki led their little caravan northwards to find the girl with the harpoon Innocence. Tyki looked at the folded sheet of paper and saw it had an address on it. _We better try and catch her away from her house,_ Tyki thought to himself, _assuming this is her home address._ As he walked, Tyki pondered a plan of how they would draw this girl away from her house. Tyki started to get ideas, some of them involved using Road or Allen as bait somehow.

Road strolled merrily alongside of her "brothers," for now she was in a good mood after they had gone shopping with Allen. She looked over at Allen to see how he looked again in his outfit, but saw instead that he was looking sick. "Allen-kun," she said in a low, concerned voice as to not draw attention from the others, "are you getting sick again?"

"I guess I'm just nervous about all this," Allen whispered back. He had to get over this. He was a Noah now. Noah killed anything that got in their way. This girl, this _accommodater_, was getting in the way of the Earl's plan, and thus the Noah family. He had to kill her and get rid of her Innocence. Not only was she getting in the way of the Earl, she was a threat, her and her Innocence. "Road... What was it like... doing something like this the first time...?" He didn't want to give voice to the words _kill a human_. He hoped Road would understand his meaning.

Road thought long and hard about Allen's question. Unfortunately all she could tell him was, "I'm sorry, Allen-kun, but I can't really remember. That was so long ago." As the eldest of the Noah, she had been with the Earl so many years that she couldn't possibly remember anything that happened before she was Noah or when she was first a Noah either.

_Just my luck._ Allen wanted to know he wasn't alone in all this--that he hadn't been the only Noah to regret murdering someone--and Road couldn't remember! Allen let out a sigh, half irritated, half disappointed.

"Tyki," he said, "how much farther?" The less he had to think about it, the less sick he'd feel. If they were almost there, he could get it over with.

Tyki looked down at the directions given to him by the Akuma and saw how far they really were from the girl. "It's kinda a long walk, Allen," Tyki admitted. "Few hours perhaps?" Tyki looked behind him and saw how bad Allen looked. "However," Tyki added, "if you're not well enough to walk, we could always try to catch a train."

"Train would be nice," Allen mumbled. His knees felt weak, probably from nerves. Plus, if they were on a train with compartments (which most were, anymore), he wouldn't have to worry about Tyki's hat falling off and revealing his scars. "I don't think I'll be able to walk that long."

Tyki nodded at Allen and led their little caravan until they found the train station ten minutes down the road. Tyki bought their group five first-class tickets and led the group to their own compartment. "Door A-7" Tyki said as he read the compartment number off of his ticket when they finally found it. Tyki opened the door and let everyone file in.

"Oh boy! A train ride!" Jasdero said in excitement as he dropped Allen's clothes, ran into the compartment and took a window seat.

David ran in after him and argued, "Oi, no fair! I want the window seat!"

The two of them started wrestling until Tyki broke them up. David decided to be the better man and just take the seat next to Jasdero, although he wasn't happy about it. David sat there, arms crossed, as Jasdero snickered to himself as he looked out the window.

"What seat do you want?" Road asked Allen as she picked up his bags of clothes and placed them in the compartment over their heads. There was two cushioned benches facing each other and in Road's mind, the two of them and Tyki would sit on the bench opposite of the twins'.

"Huh? Oh, uh... Wherever's fine." Allen, unlike the twins, didn't care where he sat. He sat down, getting the window seat, and leaned his head against the cool glass. He wasn't feeling well, but this time he knew it was due to nerves rather than the stigma. He stared out the window without seeing the scenery fly past them at an accelerating rate as he tried to calm his pounding heart and settle his stomach.

* * *

Lavi and Lenalee were sitting down along the side of the first car. They decided that it would be best if they were to stay up there in case there were to be another Akuma attack. The entire time, Lavi was deep in thought. _I know Lenalee's happy about the possible fact that we'll be able to bring Allen back, but... I'm really not so sure if he'll want to. Road seemed pretty sincere about what she said..._

Timcanpy was resting on Lenalee's lap, and then suddenly jolted up and started flying around in front of Lenalee and Lavi, looking in every direction.

Lavi perked up as Timcanpy suddenly started fluttering around in front of them. "What's wrong with you, Tim?"

"Tim, did you find Allen?" Lenalee asked. It was the only explanation.

Tim nodded and pointed toward Denmark.

Lenalee blinked, then it connected. "So... Allen used the Earl's Ark to go somewhere else?" she asked. "Lavi! We need to get off the train at the now!" She dug in her pockets and retrieved a train schedule. "I think there's a train going where Tim's pointing. We have about five minutes before it leaves."

They clambered off the train before it chugged off again. Lenalee led Lavi to the ticket booth and let him handle the purchase.

Timcanpy was slowly changing direction from where Allen had originally been. Lenalee followed his motions, watching carefully to make a good guess of where Allen could be. "I think Allen's on a train," Lenalee concluded by how Tim was steadily turning. "This one, right Tim?" She pointed at the train schedule in her hand. Timcanpy nodded.

"Now we know what train to take," she said with a small smile. Her eyes widened. "It's leaving soon! Lavi!" She grabbed her friend's hand and rushed to get on the train. They barely managed to get on the train in time.

"Tim," Lenalee said, "it will take us a while to get their. When we get close, I want you to follow Allen and report back to us." She was getting restless. She was sick of trains and searching. She just wanted to find Allen and bring him back home.

Timcanpy shook his whole body. He wanted to go ahead. He'd get there long before the slow train did. He was the fastest golem ever created, after all. He zipped out the open window and raced toward the place he knew Allen to be, ignoring Lenalee's pleas for him to come back.

Lavi watched sorely as Timcanpy flew out the window. As much as he wanted to find Allen faster, Lavi himself thought that it would be best to stay together, but he wouldn't dare to go against Lenalee, and apparently Timcanpy's, wishes. He leaned against the window as he crossed his arms. Staring out at the passing scenery, Lavi thought, _Just hurry on back, Tim.

* * *

_The train ride shaved off a few hours that Tyki had predicted if they were walking, although it did still took an hour just to get there. Tyki kept an eye on everyone the whole time as the twins bickered, Allen leaned his head on the window and Road watched Allen carefully. When the train squealed to a halt, Tyki stood up and stretched. "Grab Allen's bags and let's go."

The twins happily complied since they were all cramped up after the long train ride. They grabbed Allen's bags and ran out of their compartment.

Road stood up and stretched a little like Tyki, and then held a hand out to help Allen up. "Let's go, Allen-kun. The sooner this gets done, the sooner we can go home."

Allen smiled and took Road's hand. It was a weak smile because of his nerves, but a smile none-the-less. His legs felt like jelly, but he couldn't tell if it was because of the long train ride or from what was to come. He stepped off the train, still holding Road's hand.

Tyki lead the group for the rest of the day around town trying to either look for the accommodater's home or the accommodater herself. Tyki didn't want to ask for directions because he didn't want to draw any more attention to their group than they already had. Tyki thought he saw three girls that could possibly match the description, but he didn't want to pull out the file in front of them because that would be just too suspicious. _I might want to memorize what the girl looks like,_ Tyki thought to himself during their search.

By the time the sun was setting, Tyki was sure that everyone was getting tired. He could go on a little longer himself but he was almost positive Allen was dead beat. "Alright let's call it quits for the night guys," Tyki said to everyone. "Let's find a hotel and get some shut eye."

That was when the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and Allen spun around. It felt like someone or something was watching him. He saw a glint of gold, but it disappeared when he blinked. _Just my imagination?_ Before anyone noticed him stop and look, he turned back and followed the others.

Tyki lead them to the nearest Inn and paid for two rooms next to each other. Before he let anyone into the rooms, Tyki said, "All right, here's how sleeping arrangements will work: Road and I will be in one room and Allen, David and Jasdero will be in the other."

"Yay!!" the twins exclaimed as they pointed their pistols at each other. "Slumber party with Oto-kun!"

"Make sure Allen gets some sleep, guys," Tyki scolded. "Allen is still recovering from the stigma."

Road was ecstatic the whole day because even after they got off the train, Allen didn't let go of Road's hand. She tried a few times to loosen her grip just to see if he was waiting for her to let go, but he kept his grip on her. Road stood close to Allen most of the time.

When Tyki talked about the sleeping arrangements, she crossed her arms and pouted. _Oh sure,_ she thought, _don't trust me with Allen-kun. Who watched over him last night and didn't do anything to him, huh?_

Allen sighed. It was obvious the twins would be bothering him all night. "Can't I stay with you two instead?" he asked as the twins continued dancing around like hyperactive nutcases. "Somehow, I doubt I'll get any--" There was the feeling again. The feeling someone was watching him. He spun around, seeing the glint of gold out the window. This time, he wasn't going to let it escape. He rushed over, opened the small window and caught the cold metal thing. "Timcanpy?"

Timcanpy ruffled his feathers indignantly in response.

At the sight of Timcanpy, two Skull Tease faded out of Tyki and tackled Timcanpy out of Allen's hand and pinned his wings to the wall. "Well, well," Tyki said as he eyed the golden golem suspiciously, "what do we have here?" He turned to Allen and gave him a dark, suspicious glare. "A golem, huh? I wonder why he could be here..." It displeased Tyki--and most likely the other Noah as well--that Allen's past was catching up with him.

"I-I don't know why Timcanpy's here!" Allen cried. "I-I really have no idea!" He glanced at Timcanpy, who was struggling against the Tease. "P-please don't hurt him!" Noah or not, he didn't want to see Timcanpy get broken because of him again. "I swear, he won't be any trouble! I'll keep an eye on him so he doesn't run off or something! Tim gets lonely when I'm not around, so I bet he was just looking for me."

"Can this golem relay messages?" Tyki asked curiously as he continued to glare at Timcanpy. Tyki was aware that this golem was obviously different because of its appearance. He didn't know if it could still relay massages like other golems; the last thing Tyki wanted was for Timcanpy to give away their position to Allen's friends.

"Tim can't communicate like a radio, if that's what you mean," Allen mumbled. "He can record videos and play them back, but if we keep him here he can't do anything. Besides," he added, "Tim listens to me. He won't run off if I tell him not to."

Tyki looked at Allen and then back at Timcanpy still pinned to the wall. "All right, golem, since I know you're a good listener, listen up. We can't have the other exorcists know where we are, so you're to stay with us now. And to ensure you don't run off..." Tyki held out his hand and the two tease let go of Tim and returned to his body. However, a black Tease the size of Timcanpy emerged from his palm and fluttered about the area. "...if you attempt to leave, that Tease will eat Allen. Understand?"

Allen's eyes widened. _Why Tease?_ he thought uselessly. _Why must Tyki always use Tease?_ He took a deep breath to calm himself. It worked until the Tease landed on Allen's shoulder to prove the point. He glanced at Timcanpy. "Tim, you can't go back to Lenalee or Lavi, all right? I don't want to be lunch, and I know you don't want me to be either."

Timcanpy rushed over to Allen and sat protectively on his other shoulder, glaring threateningly at the Tease. His mouth was open, revealing all his sharp, pointed teeth as if to say, "Try anything and die."

Allen felt his knees wobble under the weight. "Tim, Tease, one of you two get off! You're too heavy!"

"Tease," Tyki called once he saw that both Allen and Timcanpy were aware of the situation. The Tease fluttered off of Allen's shoulders and onto his master's at his command. "Well Allen," Tyki said as looked tenderly at the Tease on his shoulder, "it looks like you're sleeping with Road and me tonight. You can thank your golem for that later." Tyki threw the key to the twin's room to them and then opened their room.

"Awwww," the twins complained. Now they wouldn't be able to have their "slumber part" with Allen. They were a little off set as well about Timcanpy showing up, but they weren't as overcautious as Tyki; they would have shot Tim if they saw him trying to fly away.

The room Allen, Tyki, and Road were in was small with only two beds. Tyki sighed at that fact and thought, _Well I guess Allen gets to choose who he wants to share a bed with._ As Tyki took off his tux coat to hang on the hook by the door, the Tease fluttered off his shoulder and perched on the windowsill, still watching Timcanpy with disturbing alertness. Tyki sat down on the edge of the bed nearest to the door and pulled out the file on the accommodater to try and memorize the information for the next day.

Road was slightly put off by the suspicious golem, even though she got to sleep in the same room as Allen. _If he's here_, she thought as she entered the room and took the bed next to the window, _then Allen's friends must only be a day behind us... We need to find this accommodater before they find us._

"If you two want the beds, I'm fine sleeping on the floor," Allen said, sitting cross-legged on the floor with Timcanpy in his lap. "I'm used to the floor. It's actually quite comfy," he added before Road could argue against it.

He stretched Timcanpy's face in different directions, trying to take his mind off the matter at hand. As always, the minor amusement didn't work for long. His mind wandered to what he'd be forced to do when they found the accommodater. He'd have to kill the person and destroy the Innocence--simple as that. Allen's stomach twisted at the thought, and he felt suddenly sick.

"Tim..." he muttered wearily, "you shouldn't have come. Now we're both in hot water."

Tyki looked at Road who looked right back at him, both feeling a little bad for Allen. "Like hell I'm giving up a bed just because he wants to sleep on the floor," Tyki said as he kicked off his shoes and propped his feet onto the bed. "If he really wanted to share, that would have been fine, but after all the walking we did today and our mission tomorrow and all, I need a good night's rest." Tyki was a little concerned about Allen's wellbeing on the floor with his "sick spells," but if he felt like sleeping on the floor, he wasn't going to stop him.

Road glared at Tyki as he happily took the other bed. _Heartless son of a— _She shook her head and looked away from Tyki. She couldn't bare the thought of Allen just sleeping on the floor like that, and he'd already closed the argument so there was no room for her to object. Road looked around for something she could do for Allen when an idea finally came to her.

She took one of the two pillows and pulled the comforter off her bed for Allen to use. "Well... if you're gonna sleep on the floor..." Road said as she set the pillow and comforter next to Allen, "At least take these so you stay warm tonight."

As Road went back to her bed she said over her shoulder before Allen could argue against her, "I'm okay sleeping in the cold and you need it more than I do." Road crawled onto her bed and pulled the sheet over her and rested her head on the remaining pillow as she began to drift to sleep.

Allen smiled at Road. "Thanks, Road," he said. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was almost ten. "I'm going to sleep now. See ya in the morning." He closed his eyes and, hugging Timcanpy, fell asleep.

* * *

"So how's life as a Noah?" the Noah Allen asked.

Child Allen opened his eyes, like he'd been asleep. He rubbed his eyes and asked, "Road said that you were like a split personality, but... what are you exactly?"

Noah Allen thought a moment. "I'm me, which is you."

"That makes no sense."

The Noah chuckled. "Yeah, it didn't to me either, but it sounded cool. There's not really a straight answer to this one..." The Noah Allen closed his eyes and leaned back against the tree behind him. "I guess... I'm sort of like the Noah you, but not at the same time... I guess I'm just the you that was created by the Noah genes." He chuckled again. "I really don't know what I am either. Sorry, kid."

Child Allen frowned up at him, but didn't move from where he was sitting. "Then... Can I ask you something else?"

"Shoot."

"What am I supposed to do? They want me to kill the accommodater and destroy her Innocence, but... I don't know if I can... so... what am I supposed to do if I mess up? They'll kill me if I don't do it, but I don't want to kill a human."

"That's something you'll have to figure out for yourself," the Noah replied. He came closer and patted child Allen on the head. "You'll know what to do when you get there."

Child Allen closed his eyes, and everything around him disappeared with the dream.

* * *

Tyra was playing with her little sister in front of her house and tossed the ball at her. "Catch, Myra!" Her sister nodded and caught the ball, but dropped it slowly after she did. She smiled and gave the ball to her sister, implying to throw it back at her.

"Onee-chan, I'm bored. Let's play another game."

"No Myra, Mom and Dad said we could only play with the ball." To be honest, she was getting quite sick of the game as well, but her parents were really overprotective after she hurt--or lost--her eye. "You can go inside. I'll look for something nice to play with."

Myra happily nodded and ran off. Tyra left her garden and sat down on a random bench, reading a book. She wouldn't find something anyway, so searching only meant a waste of time.

Tyra went home a while later and polished the harpoon she found. She sat in the little shed they owned because she couldn't possibly come home with a harpoon. That was why she put it in the shed and went there from time to time. When she was a little girl she'd been playing around with a harpoon and stabbed her eye with the point. Ever since then, her parents avoided dangerous objects. She, on the other hand, didn't fear sharp things as it was her fault, not the harpoon's. Even though she still didn't have the guts to remove her eye patch... Tyra put the harpoon in its place in the dusty chest and went back home, immediately going to her room to sleep.

* * *

Comments from sailorstar165:

Yet another ridiculously long chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it at least.

An update to the list of characters, Tyra is the accommodater girl and is played by Lenalee on Your-Role.


	9. Accommodater

Kanda made his way onto the next train lazily. As always, he had something to complain about. _Lenalee and that rabbit have me traveling all over Europe_. He sat down in an empty seat towards the back of the train, rested his head against the window, and sighed. "This train leads to Denmark. Maybe those two are there somewhere." he mumbled to himself quietly.

* * *

Hours passed as Lavi continued to watch out for Timcanpy's return. But he never came back. _Something's not right... Tim should be back by now, I'm sure of it,_ he thought to himself. Lavi lifted his head and faced Lenalee, who was sitting across from him. "Lenalee, don't you think Timcanpy should be back by now...?"

"Tim's probably following Allen," Lenalee said calmly. "We're almost there, so I'm sure he'll come back when we reach the station." She was only pretending to be calm, though. In reality, she was worried that a cat had eaten Timcanpy again. Of course, that was a silly fear since he was about the size of a small cat, so there was no way one would be able to swallow him.

A few more hours passed, and Lavi nodded off. Lenalee felt the train slow at last. "Lavi! Hurry up!" she said, shaking her friend awake. "This is where Tim was headed. We have to find him!" This was the end of the line, anyway. They would have to get off, regardless of whether this was where Timcanpy and Allen were or not.

She glanced around the emptying train. No one seemed to notice them, but she noticed one person in particular. "Lavi! Get down!" she hissed, pulling her friend back down. At his confused look, Lenalee whispered, "Kanda's over there. Why on Earth is he here?"

Lavi gasped when Lenalee brought him down to the floor. After listening to her words, he poked his head up and frowned. It was indeed Kanda, just getting off the train. He brought his head back down with an aggravated sigh. Without looking at Lenalee, he said quietly, "I have a feeling he was sent to find us by Lvellie..."

Cautiously, Lavi looked back up above the seat, and sighed in relief. Kanda was nowhere to be seen, or at least not on the train anymore. He slowly stood and said, "C'mon, we need to get off, but be cautious as we do so Yuu won't see us."

Lavi helped Lenalee up off the floor and brought her to the exit closest to them. He peered out the door, scanning over the large crowd of people. Sighing with relief again, he thought, _Good...he's no where to be seen, for now anyway._ "Let's go, Lenalee. Like you said, we need to hurry." With that, Lavi grabbed Lenalee's hand, rushing her off the train through the large crowd of people, while keeping down low. _Allen's here somewhere... I'm sure of it! I wonder if Timcanpy's found him by now..._

Kanda sighed and waited until just about everyone was off the train. He lazily got up with another sigh and headed towards the exit at his end. Out of the corner of his eye Kanda saw two people rushing close to the ground. He looked away, a little annoyed, and thought, _I wonder what was with those two. Maybe it was... No, it would be too easy if it were them._

Normally Kanda would go see what was up, but unfortunately for him, Kanda wasn't able to get a good look at the two people. If he was to go over and bother them and they ended up being complete stranger, well... nothing good would come of it.

Instead, Kanda aimlessly walked through the large crowd, keeping his eyes open for Lavi and Lenalee. Hopefully, he would find them soon, mainly because Kanda just wanted to go back to the order and do much of nothing.

* * *

The next morning, Tyki stirred awake from the sunlight that shone through the paper-thin curtains. _The sooner we find this girl, the sooner I get to sleep in,_ Tyki thought irritably as he sat up in bed. He slipped quietly out of bed and prepared himself for the day. He noticed Allen's clothing bags on the floor near the door and took them out of the room and summoned for an Akuma.

A few minutes later a level two disguised as a human came up the steps of the inn. "You called, Lord Tyki?"

Tyki held the bags out to the Akuma. "Take these back to the Ark. They're just getting in our way."

Right after the Akuma left, the twins drowsily poked their heads out of their room. Eyes half closed, David looked at Tyki and said, "Ohayo, Tyki."

Jasdero rubbed his eyes and asked, "Is Road and Oto-kun up yet?" He tagged on a drowsy chuckle

Tyki shook his head at the twins as he yawned. "No, they're still asleep," he said as he covered his mouth from the yawn. "Let's go get some coffee and a bite to eat while they sleep." Tyki knew the twins could handle coffee, unlike Road, so he didn't fear offering them some.

Road stirred awake at the subtle sounds of Tyki leaving the room. Road stretched as she sat up and covered her mouth as she yawned. She sighed as she saw Allen sleeping on the floor at the foot of her bed. She crawled to the end of her bed and hung her head over the edge and looked at Allen as he slept. He looked ever so relaxed, unlike he had been for the past few days. Road reached out with her hand and stroked Allen's hair tenderly so she wouldn't wake him up by accident.

Timcanpy twitched out of Allen's arms enough to get a good look at Road. He bore his teeth threateningly up at her as if to say, "Don't touch him." While he glared at Road, he hit Allen with his tail in an attempt to wake his owner up.

Road pulled her hand back from Allen once she saw the golem bare its fangs at her. Road stared coldly back at the golem as to say, "Make a move. I dare you, but I'll probably destroy you."

"Tim, it's too early," Allen muttered sleepily, not quite remembering where he was. He felt Timcanpy hit him again. "Tim, I'm tired. Lemme sleep in." Again, Timcanpy hit him. "Tim! Go away. Bug Master or somethin'..." Then he remembered what was going on.

Allen shot up, knocking Timcanpy over. "Ah, sorry Tim," he said, embarrassed. He picked up the golem and smiled at Road. "Sorry if Tim was causing trouble. He gets that way when I'm sleeping. He once bit Lavi for trying to write stupid things on my face." He glanced around the room. "Hey, where'd Tyki go?"

Once she saw that Allen stirred awake, she dropped the cold glare smiled as she waited for Allen to become fully awake. Road giggled a little as she heard the story about Lavi and then answered Allen with a drowsy voice, " I think he went to go get some breakfast, or at least some coffee." Road yawned again as she looked from the golem to the Tease that was still perched on the window ledge. "How do you feel? Does your back hurt from sleeping on the floor?"

Allen stretched his arms over his head. "Floors don't bother me. In fact, they can be a lot more comfy than hotel beds." Allen would know. Whenever his eye sensed Akuma in the area at night, he would sleep under his bed to get the jump on the killers.

"Road, what would happen if we screw up on the mission today?" he asked. "What if some exorcists interfere or the girl's better with her Innocence than we thought?" He tried to calm his pounding heart. He didn't want to have to fight his former teammates, nor did he want to kill the girl. He just wanted to go home--it didn't matter if it was the Ark or the Order--and pretend like none of this ever happened.

Road sat up and stretched as she listened to Allen's question. "Well, if you mess up, then you messed up. It happens from time to time on these missions." Road averted her gaze as she added under breath. "It seems to have happened more recently thanks to you and your old friends..."

She turned back Allen and then continued, "If another exorcist appears, then we'll probably have to kill them as well. The only thing we have to worry about," she gave Allen a cold yet curious look as she paused, "is if you do something to stop any of us from destroying the target."

Road crawled out of her bed and held a hand out for Allen to help him off of the floor as she said in a cheery voice, "But we shouldn't have to worry about that, right? Now c'mon. Let's go find Tyki." Road was in a rush to find Tyki, hoping to snag some coffee before he drank it all.

Allen sighed. He would be the one to screw it all up, wouldn't he? "Yeah, let's find Tyki."

Timcanpy hopped off Allen's shoulder to the table in the room and held the top hat up for Allen to take.

"Thanks, Tim," he said, still slightly downcast. He put the hat on his head so it hid the scars and followed Road. The sooner they found Tyki, the sooner they could finish the mission and forget about anything that happened.

Road led Allen downstairs and immediately found Tyki and the twins sitting at a table in the dinning area of the tavern with two seats open, one with a modest breakfast plate and the other with an overflowing breakfast tray. Road gasped when she saw a coffeepot with steam coming out of the spout, and she ran to the table and snatched the pot and immediately poured its contents into a teacup. To Roads dismay, however, the lighter brown liquid wasn't coffee, but instead tea.

"Sorry Road," Tyki said as he downed the last of his coffee, "no coffee for you."

The twins snickered at Road's epic fail and then turned to Allen coming to the table and said in unison, "Ohayo Oto-kun! We got you food." They pointed to the tray of food that contained everything from pancakes to eggs to hash browns and back again.

"You better eat up," Jasdero said with a snicker.

David finished the sentence, "because Tyki knows where the girl is."

Tyki wiped his mouth. "I was looking over the file last night and this morning, and I remember seeing the girl yesterday. I asked the Tavern keep if he knew her, and he said that her name is Tyra. She's a girl about your age, Allen, with an eye patch. The Tavern keep says she got into a fishing accident of some sort, and quote on quote, "had a harpoon get stabbed through her eye." I think she might have had an accident with her Innocence. Either way, I remember seeing her near the shoreline just west of here. We'll start there after you two finish."

Road sipped at her tea with a sour attitude, not only because she was slipped tea instead of coffee but also because they had to deal with another female exorcist about Allen's age.

Allen sat down at the table and picked at his food. "I'm kind of nervous," Allen admitted. "I'm not used to this at all... I don't want to... to hurt anyone... especially not a human." He held a sausage up for Timcanpy on his shoulder. His hand was shaking ever so slightly. "I'm scared... I don't know if I can do it."

"It's in a Noah's blood to hate the Innocence." Tyki said to Allen as he waited for Allen to finish eating. "You might feel nervous now, but once you're actually in battle, the instinct will come naturally to you. Kinda like there's another you." Tyki of course was speaking from personal experience of how he felt when the Noah genes would take over, when killing and destruction became almost like sex to Tyki.

Allen flinched at the words "another you." There really was another him, or that's what Road had said when it came to his two dream-selves. "You really think I won't have any trouble?" he asked. He didn't want to have to do it. "You don't think the Innocence will stop me--if there's any left in my arm, that is...?"

"Your Innocence converted to Red Innocence, remember?" Tyki said as he threw a curious eye at Allen, "You know, the more you talk about this, the more I'm suspecting that you're going to intentionally ruin this mission."

Allen shoveled some more food in his mouth to avoid having to respond to Tyki's comment. He was just scared. Until now, he'd always been on the receiving end of all the Noah's actions, whether they were simply murdering a Finder or destroying an Innocence. Allen was just scared by the sudden change of roles. It wasn't that he was trying to mess everything up; it was that he was trying to make sense of everything that was happening.

After a brief moment of silence, Allen put his fork down on his now empty plate. "I'm sorry," he managed to say. "I'm just... confused right now. I think I'll be okay once we get this all over with."

Tyki stood up from the table and said, "It's alright Allen. It's your first time. It's to be expected that you'd be nervous. Now let's go and find this Tyra."

* * *

Tyra was sitting in her garden, writing a poem. She was home-schooled after the 'accident' with her eye and spent most of her time being bored. Her sister was also home-schooled, but her friends would drop by from time to time.

"It would be great if something exiting would happen..." She sighed and stopped writing. Maybe she could draw something this time; she already had too many unfinished poems. Tyra went inside and came back with some pencils. She started to draw her garden, which actually went well. Tyra focussed on her drawing and hoped to get it done by the end of the day.

"That's her?" Allen whispered. He could see the girl on the other side of the iron gate, looking around the garden with her one eye as she sketched it. "She doesn't look like a threat."

But Allen knew exactly what she was--an accommodater. He could feel his pulse quicken as he looked at the innocent girl. His arm ached as his urge to kill her rose, and it frightened him. He took a hesitant step back.

"She might not look like a threat," Tyki said as he peeked around the tree and bush that they were gathered behind, "but she's an enemy to our cause and therefore must be eradicated." He looked harder around the girl to see if he could pinpoint anything around her that looked like a spear or harpoon, but he didn't see any. "However," Tyki said, "I don't think she has it with her."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" the twins asked in unison. "We can't kill her if we don't know where her Innocence is."

Road rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she looked at the girl from up in the tree. An idea came to mind and she jumped down and grabbed Allen by the wrist and said, "I have an idea. Just play along."

While Allen was away, Timcanpy started fluttering about the tree that Tyki and the twins were hiding by when he detected that Lenalee, Lavi, and Kanda had made it to town.

Tyki took this opportunity to light up a cigarette. _I really shouldn't be smoking with him around_, he thought as he took the first puff, _but I guess it's force of habit that keeps me smoking._ Tyki looked up when he noticed an excessive amount of flapping coming from above and saw Allen's golem flying around agitatedly. "Oi," Tyki said up to the golem as a Skull tease melded out of his hand and fluttered its wings. "Don't even think about it."

Road, meanwhile, casually walked up to the iron gate with Allen's hand in hers. She entered as she gently tugged Allen behind her and approached the girl good-naturedly. "Hi there. What are you drawing?"

Tyra looked up at the unknown girl. She wondered who these people were doing in her garden, but maybe they were just friends of her sister again. "The garden, nothing special," she said while her eye scanned both Road and Allen. They both didn't look like normal people to her, but she wasn't going to say that. "Who might you be? You don't look familiar..."

"Oh we just arrived here from another town," Road said, trying to improvise yet seem as sincerer as possible. "You see..." she averted her gaze and held Allen's hand tighter, "...both our parents died in a horrible accident, and we have no where to go... We were wondering if we could possibly stay with you for awhile before we hop on the next train to the next port so we can go live at his grandmother's house in Germany." Her plan was to befriend the girl and earn her trust to show her the Innocence before they went for the kill.

Allen tried to keep as straight a face as possible as Road lied to the girl. He had a good idea what her plan was: befriend the girl, go through her things, find the Innocence, and destroy it and the girl. It was as simple as that. Still, it made Allen feel a little ill

While Road continued to convince the girl of her story, he fussed with his hat to make sure his scars weren't showing. He tried to stay straight-faced and calm, even as he worried about Timcanpy. He'd left Tim behind with Tyki when Road had dragged him along for her plan. He had to keep calm, or Tim might pick up on it and blow their cover.

Tyra felt sorry for both of them, but it all didn't really made sense to her. Why would they want to stay with someone they didn't even know? "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't really mind if you stay here, but watch out for my parents. They don't want me to talk to strangers, go to school, or leave home without permission." She sighed at the thought how protective her parents were; it was really bothering her. Myra had more luck than she had, since they allowed her to at least have friends over.

Road giggled a little and then said, "Oh, his parents were a little like that, too. They wouldn't let him talk to any girls without approving them first."

Tyra started to feel a bit more at ease talking with the two strangers. "Is that so? That wouldn't have helped him finding a girlfriend," she said while she looked at Allen once more. It was kinda weird that he didn't say anything, and he also didn't look very relaxed.

Road let go of Allen's hand and went around behind the bench and leaned on the back to look at her drawing. "Wow, you're really good at drawing. It's great that you're artistic like that. Allen and I are a little artistic too. He can play the piano and I can sing."

"Artistic? Me? Mmm... Maybe, but I'm only doing this out of boredom. Music sounds interesting, but I've never tried making it. Well, I've tried singing, but I'm not good at it. And we don't have instruments here."

Road noticed the eye patch she was wearing and she thought to herself,_ Now how could anyone loose an eye like that?_ "Eto..." Road started a little awkwardly. "If you don't mind me asking... how come you have to wear an eye patch?"

Tyra knew that question was coming; everyone she met asked the same. "Oh, this? I had a little... accident with a harpoon when I was little and well... now I'm missing a eye. That's the reason why my parents are so protective." She figured the girl might not want to talk to her anymore, but she was used to that kind of reaction. Everyone was always making a bigger problem out of it than she did.

Allen was surprised by the harpoon story. He was even more surprised when the girl looked a little depressed. Maybe it was a bad thing to bring up. "Sorry we asked," Allen said quietly. "We didn't mean to bring up something painful."

_Bad idea!_ Allen half-shouted at himself mentally. He was supposed to kill her. If he wanted to finish her, he couldn't get close to her. He had to distance himself, to see her as nothing more than a target.

Tyra was surprised that the boy finally said something, and he didn't look like a bad person to her. "I don't mind. I was just unlucky, that's all," she told Allen.

_A harpoon, huh?_ Road thought to herself. _I wonder if that was actually her Innocence._ "Oh, I'm sorry," she said in a voice similar to Allen's, though hers was fake, "but how did a harpoon get in your eye? Do you fish?" Road didn't want to come out and ask about the harpoon, so she decided to beat around the bush until the girl brought it up directly.

Tyra didn't really like to topic of harpoons, but she couldn't blame the girl. "I don't. It doesn't interest me, and I'll feel sorry for the fish. My father used to do it, though. I just played around with a harpoon I found and thought it was a toy. It was my fault, so I moved on. Too bad my parents didn't." _I should really try talking to my parents and get them to let me go to school._

Without the girl noticing, Road grinned at Allen as to say, "We've won," and the turned back to the girl. "Well, thank you for helping us. I'm Road, by the way. What's your name?"

Tyra blinked when Road thanked her for her 'help.' She couldn't think of anything she had done. "My name's Tyra. Nice to meet you," she said while smiling at Road and Allen. "I hope you won't miss your train because you're talking to me..."

"Oh, our train doesn't leave until tomorrow," Road corrected the girl. "That's why we asked you if we could stay with you for the night." Road looked down, pretending to be a little ashamed. "We don't have a lot of money, so we can't rent a room at an Inn. We only have enough for the train and boat tickets. We don't even have enough money for food for the both of us."

Allen nodded quickly. If he stayed silent, their target might suspect something. It was best to act like he was focusing on the conversation and not let his mind wander to how Tyki was torturing Timcanpy or what he'd have to do if his former comrades showed up. He had to pretend at the very least that this conversation was important.

Tyra understood the situation and nodded. She wasn't sure about how she was going to explain it to her parents, especially since their answer was already clear to her. "That's okay... I'll just think of something to say to my parents. Aren't you hungry by now? I can make some food if you'd like..." At least she had some company now, which made her boring life a little more interesting, even if it was only for a day.

Allen glanced at Road. Even if he couldn't take being near their target for any length of time, Road could convince her parents to let them stay if it was necessary. That wouldn't be any trouble. "Thank you for the offer," Allen said politely. He was getting a little hungry, after all.

* * *

Lenalee glanced around the crowd nervously, just waiting for Kanda to discover them. "Lavi," she whispered, "where do you think Timcanpy and Allen are?" For the first time since they left the Order, she truly felt scared.

Lavi continued to rush Lenalee through the crowd, looking all over cautiously, just as she was. Without looking back at her, he replied, "I couldn't tell you for sure, but we need to think. Why would Allen come to a town as a Noah? There would have to be some reason in doing so. Otherwise, he would've probably just stayed in hiding." Lavi had a good idea why Allen had come out of hiding, but he wanted to hear Lenalee's own opinion first. Maybe they would be thinking the same thing.

Lenalee gasped. "He couldn't be... You think he's searching for Innocence?" It was the only thing that made sense. The Noah probably wanted to test whether his loyalty laid with them or the Order, and the only way to do that was to destroy the one thing he'd always tried to protect and gather: Innocence.

Lavi frowned with a slight nod. He led Lenalee to one of the main streets and stopped outside a dark ally, away from the crowd. He looked around once more to check if Kanda was anywhere to be seen; he wasn't. Lavi leaned against the wall and crossed his arms as he looked out over the crowd of people. _She's got the right idea..._ Without looking at Lenalee, he said, "There's no other logical reason for why Allen would come out of hiding. Somewhere in this town, there is Innocence. Problem is, we have no idea where. We can't really call Headquarters thanks to our little stunt. Plus, Yuu's already on our tail... I think as of now, our mission is to find the Innocence before it's too late."

Lavi bowed his head, his fists tightened. He slowly looked back up at Lenalee, sorrow filling his eye. "Lenalee, I think if it comes down to it, we may have to fight Allen..."

Lenalee shook her head. "But... We can't..." She knew they had to. If he fought them, they'd have to fight back. If he was truly with the Noah... She dropped her gaze to the street. "I hope... it won't come to that." She looked up, new resolve in her eyes and heart. "Let's go. We have to find Allen and that Innocence."

Lavi nodded slowly, pushed himself off the wall, and signaled Lenalee to follow him into the busy street. They walked along side each other, cautiously looking out for Kanda, possible Innocence accommodaters, or any sign of the Noah. Lavi did not want to run into the Noah, even if that meant seeing Allen.

Continuing to keep an eye for their three main targets, Lavi asked Lenalee, "Where do you suppose they might be, Lenalee?"

"We should ask around for information," she said thoughtfully. "Let's see if anything strange has happened lately. If nothing else, we can get an idea of how active this Innocence is. If we have to, I'll use my Dark Boots to get higher up and see if I can spot something to help us."

Lavi nodded in agreement as they continued to walk among the large crowd of people. He crossed his arms and looked down at Lenalee's boots in thought. "Well... it'll make us stick out, but I think it'll be quicker if we just use your boots now... If we were to do that, we could pick them out from above." Honestly, Lavi wasn't all that eager to find Allen now, knowing that they would probably end up fighting him. But of course, their main priority right now was to find the Innocence. Where there's Innocence, there's Noah--including Allen.

Lenalee shook her head. "If we use the Innocence, we'll draw attention to ourselves. The Noah and Kanda would know we're here, and that would be a major problem. We should use it as a last resort." With that settled, Lenalee glanced around. She noticed a few street performers a little ways away and remembered Allen saying that performers were often gossips by nature and a great place to find information on just about anything. "Come on," she said quickly.

She ran over to the performers with Lavi in tow and tossed a coin in the hat they'd put out. "Penny for your thoughts?" she asked. Allen had told her that was the "secret" code that let performers know you wanted to talk.

The violinist lowered his instrument. "What can we do fer ya?" he asked in a thick accent.

"We're looking for anything strange in this town. Something notable that happened or strange events or anything, even if it's just a ghost story."

The woman with the tambourine lowered her instrument as well. "Well, there was a strange accident a few years ago, if I remember right. This girl stabbed her eye out with a weird-looking harpoon. No one's sure where the harpoon came from or why the girl would be playin' with such a thing in the first place."

"If I remember right, the girl lives on Rosenburrow," the violinist added, "but I could be wrong too..." He shrugged, unsure of this addition.

Lenalee nodded quickly and the two performers continued adding stories to the list. The first was the only story that seemed to be more than just gossip or a ghost story, though. Lenalee nodded again and thanked them for their time. She gave them another coin for their help and walked away with Lavi.

"What do you think?" she asked when she was sure no one was listening in. "Should we check out this harpoon story?"

Lavi was deep in thought about the performers' first story. _That seems like our best shot so far... If it's not, then we'll move onto one of their other stories..._ Lavi nodded once and said, "Yeah, I think we should. Out of all those stories they told us, that one seems like our best chance at finding the Innocence." He looked over at Lenalee, determination filling his eyes, and added, "We need to hurry."

Lavi grabbed Lenalee's hand and began to run down the street for Rosenburrow. Without looking back at her, Lavi said, "If this girl does live on Rosenburrow, the Noah will probably be there already—that includes Allen, and most likely Tim. Be prepared; we don't know what Allen's Noah powers are, and odds are they're gonna want him to test them out." Lavi looked over his shoulder at Lenalee. "If that happens, we have to fight Allen. Do you think you can handle that, Lenalee?" Lavi didn't want to fight Allen anymore than she did, but he knew it would have to be done.

"I'll fight if I have to," Lenalee said quietly. "If Allen tries to fight us, I'll fight."

* * *

Comments from Sailorstar165

Yay! Another chapter! Thanks for reading, everyone!

This chapter was especially tough to put order, but I think I did a good enough job.

Oh, and one thing: if you happen to see any typos or mistakes (i.e. misspellings, "Lavi's eyes" instead of "Lavi's eye", etc.) please tell me. Thank you!

...More bloodlust from Allen next chapter. I promise.

Oh yeah! Shameless advertising for Back at the Order! Please go read it! It's really fun! You'll laugh! ...Honest! All the same RPers (and a few more) are involved in that crazy fic. Make Twilight (the RPer behind Road, Tyki, and the Twins) feel good. He's the one formatting that one into fanfiction. :)


	10. Failure

The two exorcists at last reached the street sign reading "Rosenburrow." Lenalee grabbed Lavi and pulled him behind a tree. She could see Allen and Road talking to a girl in one of the yards. Lenalee gestured at them without saying a word. They didn't want to get caught unprepared by the Noah.

Lavi carefully watched as Road and Allen talked to a girl, not really doing anything else. He noticed the girl was wearing an eye patch_. That must be the girl with the Innocence... Why else would they be talking with her?_ he thought to himself. Lavi clutched his small hammer--just in case they were to be spotted. But so far they were good.

Lavi looked all around the area for any other Noah other than Road and... Allen. Behind a tree and some bushes Lavi barely spotted them--and Timcanpy flapping around rapidly above them. _So... it looks like they did capture Tim after all..._

Lavi brought his mouth up to Lenalee's ear. As quietly as possible, he said, "You see the other Noah over there--they have Tim. But besides that, what do you suppose we should do? We could always just kinda sit here in the shadows and watch them until they attempt something, but I want to hear your opinion too."

"I hate to say it, but we need help. There's no way we can take on all the Noah, even if Allen decides to help us and go against the Noah. We need to find Kanda." Lenalee was scared. The only way they could possibly win is if Allen helped them rather than the Noah. If he didn't, then they'd be outnumbered and in trouble because of the now unknown enemy.

Tim noticed Lenalee hiding in the shadows across the way. He wanted to go to them but knew that the no good Noah would have those damn butterflies eat Allen. To try and get their attention he started fluttering about the tree to try and get their attention.

Tyki looked up when he noticed the golem moving about some more and glanced over at Allen and Road to see they were just till talking. "What has gotten into that-" Tyki started as he turned back around but saw two of Allen's friends across the way. Tyki narrowed his eyes. "Oye, David, Jasdero, we got company..."

The twins looked up from their pistols and in the direction Tyki was looking and saw the exorcists. Their demonic sides started to fade through, and David asked in a dark voice, "What should we do Tyki?"

Tyki thought about the situation and mumbled, "Well if we start something with the accommodater in view, she might question what's going on or at least run away, and then we wouldn't be able to get the Innocence... Let's wait and see if Road can get the girl to take the two of them inside."

* * *

Lavi sighed, full of annoyed disappointment. _I should've seen that coming... But she's right. There's no way we can fight off these Noah on our own--even if Allen decided to help us._

Lavi nodded slowly and then brought Lenalee out from behind the tree. Just before leaving, he noticed that Tyki and the twins were looking right at them. _Oh no... We're spotted._ Lavi grabbed Lenalee's hand and quickly ran off of the street of Rosenburrow. "We have to hurry--they spotted us." He made a mental note of where the street was, and then led Lenalee down along the main road.

Thankfully, it didn't take them too long to see Kanda walking among the crowd_. Boy are we going to regret this...I can already tell. But that doesn't matter now!_ Still running toward Kanda, Lavi raised his hand high in the air and began to wave at Kanda as he shouted loudly, "Yuu! We need your help! Hurry!"

Kanda walked down the main road, holding onto Mugen rather tightly. _Where could those two possibly be?_ Kanda thought as he heard someone shouting his first name. _There's only one person who would say that..._ He looked around in the crowd of people, and then saw none other than Lavi and Lenalee. _Stupid rabbit... Though... it saves me the trouble of looking for them some more._

Kanda walked up to them, rather annoyed, and glared down at the two. "I don't care if you two need my help. You're the ones that are in trouble with Lvellie. I was told to bring you back to Headquarters at once."

"That's not important right now," Lenalee said quickly. "The Noah are going to destroy an Innocence, and there are too many for just Lavi and me to take on!" She took a deep breath, and then said, "If you help us save this Innocence and Allen, we'll go back with you willingly."

* * *

Road smiled for the girl and said, "Thank you for your kindness." Road paused for a minute to seem like she was pondering and then asked the girl, "Do you mind if we go in now?" Road wanted to end this charade as soon as possible and get on home.

Tyra looked behind her for a moment and said: "Sure, go ahead..." She felt like she was being watched by someone else for a while now... But since she spotted no one she lead the way inside and decided to take a look after she made some food. Tyra kicked some toys of her sister aside and sighed. "I'm sorry for all of those, they're from my sister."

Road grabbed Allen by the hand and dragged him into the house behind Tyra and watched her kick some toys aside. "It's all right; we don't mind." Road said as she started to half-heartedly look around. Really she was seeing if she could spot the Innocence or not.

Tyki watched how Tyra, Road and Allen finally went into the house and chuckled maniacally as he skin turned dark and the crosses appeared n his forehead. "It looks like we're going to take care of them right now." Tyki said in a dark voice before he slipped into the ground. Tyki glided past underneath them and then appeared behind Kanda. "You're not going anywhere," he said to get their attention, "and neither is the Innocence or Allen-kun."

The twins ran over to where the exorcists stopped and strolled up behind Lenalee and Lavi as their skin grew dark and their scars appeared. "Oto-kun stays with us," they said in unison as they pointed their pistols at each other.

Tyki then recognized the exorcist he was standing behind. "Ahh, Katana-kun." Two tease melted out of his hands and his white cross blades appeared. "It's been awhile." Tyki was now all geared up for a fight. His eyes widened as his pupils dilated and a smile of sharp teeth started to play across his face.

Kanda looked over his shoulder only to see one of the Noah, Tyki Mikk. Quickly Kanda jumped away from the Noah and unsheathed Mugen, shouting, "Innocence, Activate!" Kanda gripped it tight in both hands, and stepped into a fighting stance.

Lenalee stumbled away from Tyki and the twins. She glanced around. There was no one else in the area to get hurt--thank God. "We'll beat you and get Allen back," she said, activating her Innocence. Her statement sounded so weak, though. She didn't know if they _could_ win against them.

Lavi looked around at the Noah surrounding them. _Damn... there's no way out of this... But if these guys are here, that means... _Lavi's eyes widened when he realized that Road and Allen were most likely in the process of the destroying the Innocence, along with the girl.

Just as Kanda had, Lavi backed away from the Noah as he pulled out his hammer. "Innocence, Activate," he said calmly as his hammer grew to a fairly large size. Lavi glared at Tyki with cold, heartless eyes. "What makes you think that Allen would want to stay with the likes of the Noah?"

Tyki smirked back devilishly at their acquisitions, then asked one of his own, "What makes you think the Order would take him back?" Tyki paused for a minute to let his statement sink in before going on. "His resolve as an exorcist has already been shattered. As we speak, he's on his way to killing his first exorcist and also," Tyki paused as he straightened up and added, "his Innocence is no longer God's crystal."

The twins chuckled a bit. They knew what Tyki was playing at while the exorcists didn't. David added, "His Innocence changed. It's now red and it doesn't hurt Noah."

Jasdero snickered. "Yeah, yeah, we saw Tyki try and cut himself with Oto-kun's claw with our own eyes. Didn't even leave a scratch."

At that point the twins pointed their pistols towards the exorcists and said in unison, "But that doesn't matter."

"Because you three," Jasdero said with a wide smile.

"Are going to heaven," David finished, saying it like the Millenium Earl would have.

They both had the same thought and then shouted, "Blue Bomb!" They both fired their pistols and two orbs of blue energy hurled toward the three exorcists.

Lenalee grabbed Lavi and Kanda and jumped out of the way. She set them down. "You okay?" she asked Kanda and Lavi. They'd barely dodged the Blue Bomb.

Lavi was a little thrown off when Lenalee pushed him and Kanda out of the way. "We're fine, thanks."

She glanced back at the Noah, then whispered, "Someone has to go save the Innocence. Lavi, can I trust you with that?" He'd beaten Road's power once before, after all. He was also one of Allen's closest friends. If anyone could help that girl, he could.

Lavi took a quick breather, then looked up in Lenalee's direction when he alone was addressed. "Well..." _Going means leaving them behind, and most likely facing Allen head-on._ Slowly, Lavi nodded and answered, "I have no other choice. Besides, that's our first priority." Lavi got up on his feet, gripping the handle of his hammer. Placing the head firmly on the ground, Lavi quietly said, "Extend." Soon enough, Lavi was off the ground, flying at a rapid speed for the girl's house on Rosenburrow.

Lenalee watched Lavi leave from the corner of her eye. Once she was sure he was a safe distance, she crouched in a fighter's stance, ready to launch at the Noah. "Are you ready, Kanda?" she asked under her breath. She didn't take her eyes off the Noah.

Kanda watched as Lavi flew off on his hammer, slightly irritated by the fact that they were down a member. But it couldn't be helped--he knew Lavi had to go save the Innocence. Kanda gripped Mugen tightly. "Yeah."

Tyki watched the other exorcist escape and chuckled to himself at the pointless effort. "Trying to save the girl and the Innocence huh?" he commented casually, "He won't succeed. It's two against one, and now you've just limited your numbers against us."

"You're as good as dead," the twins said in unison as they pointed their guns yet again at the remaining exorcists. "Red Bomb!" They fired yet again at the exorcists again.

Practically ignoring the Noahs' comments, Kanda grabbed Lenalee and jumped out of the way of the twins' attack. Kanda set Lenalee down and brought himself to his feet, glaring at the twins. "Don't underestimate me."

Kanda held Mugen with his right hand alone in a perfectly still stance. He gripped it tighter as he said calmly, "Netherworld creature 'Ichigen'." Kanda swung Mugen in front of him, directing his attack toward the three Noah. _That won't bring them down, but it may catch them off guard for a moment. That'll give Lenalee enough time to attack._

Tyki stood ready as Katana-kun's hell insects lunged themselves towards him. He meerly smiled and said rather calmly, "Tease." Then mass quantities of Tease multiplied from Tyki's body and formed thick pillars that charged the exorcist's illusions. The pillars collided with the insects, forcing Tease to stand still. However, the driving force behind the Tease forced the insects to fly off course and miss their targets.

Tyki smiled demonically as the mass number of remaining tease separated and blotted the sky with black and purple. Tyki readied himself to charge and said under his breath, "Here I come." Tyki took one step forward which forced himself to hover just above the ground and careen towards Kanda. Tyki raised his cross blades behind himself, and once in range, started to bombard Kanda with strikes, slashes and blows from his cross blades.

Lenalee launched herself into the air with her Dark Boots. She kicked the air and shouted, "Waltz! Misty Wind!" She conjured up a swirling mist with her Innocence. It crashed into the Noah, blinding them in the fog.

"Uh oh," was the first thing that came out of the twins' mouths when they saw Lenalee's whirlwind attack coming for them. David looked at his twins with a devilish smirk. Jasdero looked back and snickered a little as the cogs in their head clicked in unison. They pointed their pistols towards the ground and shouted in unison, "Red bomb!" An explosion went off from under them, which sent the twins flying and just missing Lenalee's attack.

While still air born, They pointed their pistols again at Lenalee and shouted again, "Red Bomb!" A giant fireball then lobbed itself towards the female exorcist with scorching heat.

Lenalee dodged the red bomb, but the heat from the explosion scorched her. She ducked down close to the ground and launched herself at supersonic speed toward the twins. She kicked both pistols out of their hands. "Now you can't use those anymore," she said with a smirk.

She knew the twins had more tricks up their sleeves, but maybe her actions would stun them long enough for her to knock them both unconscious.

_Shit,_ David thought as the girl exorcist kicked his pistol out of his hand and he started to fall.

_Not good,_ Jasdero thought at the same time as he too began to fall.

_I wish I had wings!_ they both thought simultaneously and all of a sudden, dark-skinned, demon wings sprouted from their backs and they slowed their decent to the ground and touched down gently. The wings faded away and they reached out for their guns and golden ropes appeared in their hands with one end attached to their pistols. They yanked on the imagined ropes and their guns came flying back towards them. They caught their guns and the ropes disappeared too.

"You're fighting a losing battle, exorcist," David said to Lenalee.

"You can't kick the crap out of someone's imagination," Jasdero added coupled with a snicker.

They both aimed their pistols at the ground in front of them and both shouted, "Blue bomb." After they both fired, ice accumulated on the ground all around them, freezing Lenalee's feet into place. They both imagined they knew how to ice skate and had ice skates on and they started to skate around Lenalee in circles on the rink they had just created for themselves. They both aimed at Lenalee and shouted at the same time as they fired, "You're through! Blue Bomb!"

Lenalee let out a cry of surprise as the ice engulfed her boots and held her in place. She watched in horror as the twins shot Blue Bombs at her. She held her arms uselessly between her and the ice bombs, knowing that she would soon be frozen to death. There was no chance of survival.

_But I have to survive..._

She felt a strange yet familiar warmth surround her protectively, and she was once again encased in Innocence. She could see through the crystal like a lens. _No!_ She hit the crystal with her fists. It had saved her from the twins' bombs, but now she was completely defenseless. Kanda couldn't rescue her. She had to get out! She had to keep fighting!

The crystal vanished, as if her thoughts erased its very existence, and her anklets returned to her ankles as if she'd deactivated her boots like any other time. She glared at the twins, reactivated her Innocence, and rushed past them at the speed of sound, to where she was sure Allen was now.

* * *

As soon as he reached the house, Lavi landed safely on the ground, shortening his hammer to a decent fighting size. He took a deep breath as he thought, _I hope I'm not too late._ With that Lavi quickly ran into the house. Right away he saw the girl, Road, and Allen.

Tyra was surprised when another unknown person suddenly showed up. She wanted to ask Road if she knew the guy, but Road already spoke up.

Road was just as surprised when Bookman Junior showed up out of no where in the house. Thinking quickly, Road said to the girl in a distressed tone, "Tyra! It's the man responsible for our parents' deaths!" Road held her arms out weakly and said in a serious voice, "Go with Allen-kun, hide and maybe find something to defend yourself."_ If she grabs the Harpoon, Allen,_ Road spoke telepathically to Allen, _kill her immediately. Your body will react if is it actually is the Innocence._

Tyra blinked and thought that he didn't really look like a bad guy, but she must be wrong if Road said so. "T-that's horrible! Did he follow you here?" Tyra didn't ask more and decided to follow Allen as Road instructed, but the guy started to talk to her.

Lavi's eyes widened with shock and confusion when he was supposedly responsible for killing Road and Allen's parents... "Wha--what?! But how could I--?" Lavi started, but stopped. There was no point in trying. He knew exactly was Road was doing: she was tricking the girl so she would be against him. Not only that, Road was most likely trying to get Allen to do the dirty work.

"Don't listen to Road, she's just trying to trick you. I don't know what she's told you, but she's really after the Innocence that you possess... and your life." Lavi looked to the girl as he spoke, and then Allen. His skin was dark, his eyes a golden color, and even more so, his left arm didn't look the same. It saddened Lavi to see Allen as a Noah.

Still gazing at Allen, Lavi spoke softly, "Allen, I know you don't want this. You'd rather be fighting alongside us, the exorcists, again--not the Noah."

"Innocence? I don't know what that is. You must be mistaking me for someone else," Tyra said while trying to find out what the guy wanted from her. He was wearing some weird kind of uniform, and also seemed to know Allen. She was curious about what he meant with 'exorcists' and 'Noah' so she looked Allen's way, waiting for his reply.

"I..." Allen didn't know what to say. A part of him wanted to help Lavi, to go back to the exorcists, but another part of him wanted him to go along with Road's plan. The room started spinning again.

_No!_ He shook his head, and the room stopped whirling around him. _I can't pass out right now._

With that thought, the Noah side of him won out. "What are you talking about?" he said, taking Tyra's hand and stepping back as if in fear. "You killed our parents, and now you're saying I'd rather fight alongside you exorcists?" He took a steadying breath and hoped no one noticed. It would only prove he was lying. "Y-you're crazy!" he finally shouted. He turned and ran, leading Tyra out of the room so Lavi couldn't convince her of the truth.

Lavi watched Allen in silence, unsure of what to say, let alone do. He noticed that Allen was struggling a little while saying what he said, but that wasn't the point. He was siding with the Noah, not the exorcists.

Bowing his head slightly, Lavi thought, _Wow... Lenalee's gonna be crushed. She'll have to find out eventually though..._ He lifted his head back up, glaring at the Noah. "Well, even if Allen is on your side, I don't think he would kill the girl. Not after what he's seen." Lavi knew he was just speaking his mind now, so it didn't matter much. Even so, he thought Road should know his thoughts, whether they were right or wrong.

Road smiled devilishly as Allen ran off with the Accommodater in hand and started to giggle once they were out of earshot. One of Road's candles appeared on the door handle, which pushed the door shut. "Allen? Not kill?" she asked sadistically as fifty more of her pointed candles appeared in the room. "You should have seen the look on his face when he first saw the girl. I was afraid he was just going to lunge at her and kill her on the spot." Road held her hand up and the candles pointed their sharp tips at Lavi. "What will you do now that you're back up is with us, Bookman Junior?" She brought her hand down and the candles careened towards Lavi.

Lavi glanced around at all of the pointed candles that were surrounding him, trying to ignore Road's words. Obviously, it didn't work; her words kept buzzing around his head. _Damn... I guess I don't have any other choice..._ Lavi thought as Road's hand went down. Quickly, Lavi gripped his hammer tightly, shouting, "Gouka kaijin, Hiban!" The base of his hammer lit with fire, and began to surround both himself and Road while a fire seal spread out on the room's floor. Lavi smirked as the surrounding flames melted Road's pointed candles until there was nothing left. He let out a relieved sigh and stood up straight, glaring at Road with heartless eyes. "Did you honestly think I would give up because Allen's not on our side?"

Road was surprised that Lavi used Hiban inside of a small home. Because of the size of the room, she had no time to react and was caught in the inferno that Lavi had set off in the room. When the blazing inferno stopped, Road was left in rags and tatters. However, Road regenerated her form and was back to her normal, clean self within seconds. T_his Bookman Junior is reckless,_ Road though as she looked behind her at the still intact part of the house where Allen and the girl was. _What is taking him so long?_

While Road was engulfed in the flames, Lavi quickly made his way into the room Allen and the girl had gone in. He looked around the room urgently, but saw no one. _Damn... where could they have gone?!_ Lavi made his way to the window and glanced around outside. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw them walk into a shed out in the garden. _I just hope I'm not too late..._

* * *

Tyra wasn't very happy with the fact that Allen took her away, even if it was to protect her. She wanted to know what the guy with the eye patch was talking about, but now she couldn't ask them. She had a weird feeling that the guy might damage her house. "Allen-san? What was all that? And what did that guy mean with Innocence?" Tyra hoped Allen would give her a satisfying answer, because she really had no idea what was going on. "Does this have something to do with my harpoon...?"

Allen froze. He felt it again, the strange sensation that made his heart pound and arm ache with the urge to kill the girl. _Stay focused!_

"Innocence is..." He had to lie. He had to convince her to show the Innocence to her. "Innocence is the only thing that can beat the guy with the eye patch. He's a monster in disguise." He took a deep breath to calm his heart. "M-maybe your harpoon is Innocence. If that's the case, then... then we can defeat that guy."

He turned to face Tyra. "I'll be able to tell if that harpoon is Innocence. If it is... it's the only thing that can protect us from that man."

Tyra stared at him with a confused look on her face. Was he just messing with her? "Monster in disguise? Um, I'm sorry but..." she started, not knowing how she should tell him that she didn't believe in 'monsters'. And even if the guy was a 'monster,' how was a harpoon going to defeat him? She suddenly started to wonder with what kind of people she got involved with, and that reminded her again of the uniform the unknown guy was wearing.

"He is a monster," Allen said, feeling something rise in his chest. "He wants... to kill my family and ruin everything..." He recognized the something in his chest. It was hate. He hated Lavi now simply because he had an Innocence. Unlike the other new emotions Allen had felt recently, this one didn't frighten him. It seemed completely normal, just like the urge he now had to kill the girl. "We... need to find your harpoon... or else... everything'll be ruined..."

* * *

Kanda blocked every attack the Noah threw at him with Mugen, being pushed back nearly every time. _This isn't going anywhere,_ he thought as he purposely jumped back away from the Noah. Kanda gripped Mugen in his right hand as he said calmly, "Mugen! Two Illusion Blades!" A glowing trail from his blade went around Kanda from behind, forming a second blade in his left hand.

Smirking, Kanda lunged at the Noah with full force and speed, throwing strikes at him repeatedly.

As Tyki fended off Kanda's barrage with slight difficulty, he noticed how half of the girl's house exploded. _Eye-patch-kun is sure making a mess,_ Tyki thought to himself as he started to dodge Kanda's blades. _I should see if Allen needs help. He's taking a long time in there._ Tyki leaned back as he dodged a horizontal slash from Kanda and he dropped to the ground and phased through it. While still in the ground, Tyki reached up and grabbed Kanda by the ankle and dragged him into the ground up to his waist.

Tyki shifted through the ground and reappeared by the intact half of the house. In a hurry Tyki began checking the windows, not wanting to scare the girl if she was still alive. Tyki saw Allen and the girl in one of the surviving rooms with the girl's back to the window. _C'mon, Shounen, _he thought to himself eagerly as he watched them. _Kill her already._

Tyra really didn't believe this whole 'monster' thing, but if seeing her harpoon made Allen happy then she didn't mind. "If that harpoon really can help, then you can see it, I guess. But to be honest I don't get this at all." She sighed and suddenly got a bad feeling about this, but maybe that was just that 'monster' guy being in her house. Tyra wanted to open the door to the shed and noticed it was locked, which was really weird. "It's locked. We have to get this thing open, otherwise I can't show you the harpoon."

Allen frowned. _If I use the Crown Clown, she'll think I'm a monster too and run away,_ he thought, eyeing the lock. "Is there a key?" Allen asked. He glanced around nervously, hoping Lavi hadn't followed him here yet. "We need to hurry..." he muttered, "or else that monster will..." He felt guilty about calling Lavi a monster and couldn't finish.

The guilt didn't last long, though. It was soon replaced by the urge to kill Tyra and destroy her Innocence. The feeling was so strong, it made Allen's hands start to shake. He shoved them in his pockets and glanced quickly at Tyra to check if she'd noticed. She hadn't.

Tyra thought for a minute and then remembered the key her parents left her. "Oh, I think I have one, I never have to use it though... But I wonder how that door got locked in the first place..." She got the key out of her pocket and opened the door. This whole thing was getting suspicious and she wondered who was telling her the truth. She didn't believe the monster story, but the fact that her harpoon had something to do with everything was obvious. The 'monster' had mentioned something about 'Innocence' and that Allen and Road were after her, but she'd find out who were the bad guys sooner or later.

Allen waited for her to open the door, all the while trying to hold back the urge to kill that kept bubbling to the surface. He had to destroy the Innocence. There was no other way to get rid of the feeling. He had to do it, no matter how against it he was.

Tyki phased into the ground. He then shifted through the ground until he was under a bush and he poked his head up to see Allen and the Accommodater entering a shed. _That's where the Innocence must be_, he concluded in his head, and he made his way silently through the ground. Tyki peered up from the corner behind a wheel barrel and saw Allen and the girl hovering over a trunk. _Well I could destroy the Innocence now myself,_ he thought to himself, _but let's see how Allen acts first._ This was, after all, a test of Allen's loyalties.

Tyra wasn't sure about what she had gotten herself in to. "Here is it." She kneeled down and slowly opened the chest and got the harpoon out. "Well, this is the harpoon. You're going to take it from me, right?" she asked as a test.

Allen swallowed hard. His heart was racing at the sight of the accursed Innocence. He reached out, hand shaking, for the Innocence, but snatched his hand back before he could so much as touch it. He had no idea what to say. He was completely entranced by the Innocence and wanted nothing more than to destroy it. "I... I..." He felt ill again.

_Now's not the time!_ he snapped at himself. He reached out for it again. "I need to check if it really is what we need," he said.

Without a second's care or thought, Lavi dashed into the shed. Right away he saw the girl holding a harpoon, and Allen reaching for it. Obviously, the harpoon was the Innocence that they were all after. Lavi could easily tell that Allen was struggling. "No, Allen! Stop! This isn't right, and you know it!" Lavi gripped his hammer tighter, just incase he would have to fight Allen, in order to stop him from destroying the Innocence and the girl. He hoped it would resort to that.

Allen froze, his hand inches from the Innocence. He stumbled back, suddenly aware of what he'd been about to do. He'd been about to destroy the harpoon, and the girl soon after. Tears were running down his cheeks. He couldn't. He just couldn't. Noah or exorcist, he just couldn't take a human life.

"R-run," Allen managed to say to Tyra. "Run! Get out of here! Go with Lavi!" He looked helplessly at his former friend. They had to escape before Tyki or one of the other Noah caught up.

"Please, Lavi," he whispered, "get her out of here..."

Lavi watched Allen, slightly surprised that he had actually gotten through to him. Even so, he was worried about his friend. Well, former friend that is... The other Noah would soon find out about what Allen was doing, and he would surely have to pay. Nodding slowly, Lavi replied, "I was planning to, Allen..."

Quickly, Lavi walked over to the girl and set the base of his hammer firmly on the ground. He reached out his hand slowly to the girl and said, "Please, listen to Allen and come with me. Your life is in danger, and neither of us wants any harm to come of you." Lavi glanced over at Allen, noticing that he was still struggling not to destroy the Innocence and this girl. _Allen..._ He looked back at the girl completely, and added, "We have to hurry."

Tyki was stunned at Allen's change of heart and total betrayal of their cause. That aside, their target was on the verge of escape; he had to act fast. Tyki shifted quickly through the ground and emerged from the ground behind Tyra and thrust his hand through her body. "You're not going anywhere, girl," Tyki said as his eye's widened and his irises contracted, "not alive, that is." Tyki brought his hand back through her body and grabbed her heart on the way out. Tyki held her heart out to his side and he looked at it with total blood lust. He squeezed the heart so that all the blood sprayed out of it and at the same time the girl fell to the ground, dead.

Tyki dropped her pruned heart and licked off some of the blood off of his glove as he looked at the harpoon on the ground. "And for my next trick..." Tyki said maniacally as he held his bloody glove over the harpoon and indigo electrical sparks accumulated around his hand as he prepared to destroy the Innocence. Then a bolt of indigo lightning shot from his hand to the Harpoon and began to electrify the weapon. The actual Harpoon itself burned and shattered away, leaving the green mass of Innocence. Tyki increased the voltage of his attack and increased the pressure around the Innocence until finally the Innocence itself shattered to dust, which seemed to dissipate and disappear into the air.

Once the deed was done, Tyki looked back at Allen with anger at first but then with surprise. Allen's skin had faded back to it's normal pale and his eyes were silver yet again. Tyki took the top hat off Allen's head and saw that his scars were gone. Reality then hit Tyki and his stunned gaze morphed back to an evil glare. _He just morphed to his human form,_ Tyki thought to himself. _He's still a Noah._

Allen wanted to stop Tyki, but he couldn't move. He couldn't make a sound. He felt his knees buckle and he collapsed to all fours. He felt tears roll down his cheeks and he watched them hit his hand. He didn't know that they'd changed back to their old color. All he knew was that Tyra, a human who shouldn't have been involved in this whole war, was dead, a look of fear permanently on her face.

Tears still flowed freely from his eyes as he sobbed. He'd been about to kill her. If Lavi hadn't come, he'd have been the one with blood on his hands. He'd have been the one to destroy not an accommodater, but a innocent, little girl. "No..." he sobbed. "NO!!!"

Tyki watched as Allen started to break down into tears, which was starting to piss him off. "Tease," he said in an angry voice as a very large swarm of skull tease materialized from his body and began to swarm and attack Lavi on his hammer.

Tyki walked over to Allen and with his clean glove picked Allen up by the back of his collar and held him up to his eye level. "Get a hold of yourself, Shounen!" Tyki scolded Allen. "This is war! You really are a foolish clown to think that any war can be won without any sort of casualties!"

Tyki set Allen down on his feet and set his clean hand firmly on his shoulder. "You're going to be in so much trouble when the Earl hears about this," Tyki said in a stern voice. He looked behind him to see Lavi still struggling with the Tease and then said again to Allen, "We're leaving." Tyki dragged Allen into the ground and shifted through the ground with Allen in hand to the other Noah.

Road had already met up with the Twins as they tried to figure out from a distance what was going on. They didn't want to rush in because they wanted to trust Allen to do the job and so they didn't scare away Trya. When Tyki appeared from the ground with Allen in hand with a very dark and angry face, Road questioned, "Tickie? What happened?" Road was scared for a moment that the mission was unsuccessful.

"The girl is dead and the Innocence was destroyed." Tyki said sternly as he showed his bloody glove to Road and the twins. "However, we need to have a family meeting."

Tyki raised his bloody glove and snapped his fingers. The blue sky split and a black door to the ark appeared next to the Noah. "We're going home." He firmly but not forcibly pushed on Allen's back and ushered him to go through the Ark's door first. Once Allen entered, Tyki followed close behind to make sure he wouldn't run back out again to his former friends.

Jasdero and David looked at each other as Allen, Tyki and Road entered the ark and they sang to each other in unison, "Oooooooooooooo... Oto-kun is in trouble." Jasdero swallowed his normal snicker as they tried to fathom what would become of their little brother. They followed the others through the Ark's gate, and then the gate way retracted back into the sky and the split vanished, leaving the three exorcists to deal with Tyki's remaining Tease.

* * *

Lavi fought off the Tease blankly, still in a daze from what he just witnessed Tyki do. He desperately wanted to chase after them and try his best to get Allen to stay, but he knew it was no use. After Lavi fought off the last remaining Tease, he stood up straight and bowed his head in disappointment.

Lavi glanced over at the girl's lifeless corpse. Just the very sight filled his head with numerous amounts of emotions. He frowned down at the body as he said quietly to himself, "I-I'll come back with the others..." With that, Lavi walked out of the shed in silence, closing the door behind him. He looked up, only to see Lenalee approaching him. From the look on her face, she seemed a little surprised and concerned that Lavi had came out alone.

Lavi slowly walked up next to her and quietly said, "C'mon, we should go get Yuu." Without waiting for a response, Lavi began to walk back in the direction in which he had came.

Lenalee followed Lavi back to Kanda. "What happened?" she whispered. Lavi's expression was grave and Allen wasn't with him. It couldn't be a good sign.

Lavi ignored Lenalee's question until they finally made it back to Kanda. The fact that Kanda was stuck in the ground didn't phase Lavi in the least. He sat himself down on the ground next to Kanda, and motioned for Lenalee to do the same.

Once she had, Lavi bowed his head down as he let out a disappointed, sorrowful sigh. He then said, "Allen was fairly close to getting the Innocence from the girl. I came in before the girl could give it to him though. All in all, Allen couldn't do it, and told me to take the girl out of there. But before I could, Tyki came in, killed the girl, destroyed the Innocence, and ran off with Allen after lecturing him some."

Lavi slowly looked back up at Lenalee and Kanda, not wanting to see their reactions. He glanced away from his comrades and then added, "I--I'm sorry. There wasn't too much I could do."

Lenalee nodded. "You did the best you could, Lavi," she said, patting him on the shoulder. "We're just glad you're still alive." Then she sighed. "We'll have to tell that girl's family what happened so they don't come home to their dead daughter alone. We don't need another Akuma to be created."

Lenalee noticed Kanda glaring at them from the ground. She activated her Innocence, stomped on the earth to break it apart, and helped pull Kanda out of the hole.

Lavi watched as Lenalee helped Kanda out of the hole, and got up onto his feet. "I was thinking the same thing. I thought that I should tell you two what happened before hand though." Lavi then focused all of his attention on Kanda and added, "Yuu, I know you're supposed to be against us here and take us back to Headquarters, but Lenalee and I really need you on our side for all of this."

Kanda brushed himself off as he glared at Lavi. _Stupid rabbit... How many times do I have to tell him not to call me by my first name?_ Kanda knew he wasn't going to be able to get out of this, especially now that he himself had run into the Noah. "Baka Moyashi... causing trouble like this..."

Kanda let out an annoyed and aggravated sigh. There was no point in trying to go against Lavi and Lenalee. "Fine. You two better hope that Lvellie doesn't find out, or we're all in for it." Kanda walked past the other two, toward the half-destroyed house.

* * *

Allen did as Tyki told him to do. He didn't try to pull away when Tyki dragged him to the others, didn't try to run when he was pushed through the ark's door, didn't complain when Tyki locked him in his room for a "family meeting." He sat on his bed, staring at the wall, tears still rolling down his cheeks. He wanted someone--anyone--to be with him. Timcanpy, Road... Lenalee... He wanted someone who would understand his confusion and pain.

He looked at his normal hand, which had returned to a regular human skin tone. He'd figured out how to return to his human form, but at what cost?

As soon as Allen entered his room, Tyki slammed the doors shut and locked the door from the outside. Tyki called for two level three Akuma which came in a rather hurry, sensing Tyki's anger.

"Y-you called for us Master Noah?" the one level three asked him in a tone of fear. If Akuma feared anything in this world, it was an angry Noah that could possibly destroy them.

"Guard this room." Tyki said to the two sternly as he pointed to Allen's doors. "No one goes in and no one comes out until I return."

After the two of them took their sentries post, Tyki stomped off to the dining room and he yelled for another Akuma. After a level two appeared at his side while walking with him, Tyki said to it in the same voice as the others, "Go to the Earl's room and tell him that we need to have a family meeting." The Akuma nodded and walked off towards the Earl's room.

Once the four Noah made it to the dining room they all sat down, already finding Lulubellee at the table reading a book. Once Tyki sat down he gave out a loud, heavy sigh as his head dropped to the table, which seemed to let all the rage out of his body.

Road was becoming very concerned as Tyki locked Allen in his room and called for a family meeting. They usually only did this when the twins screwed up somehow and needed to punish them. What could Allen have possibly done to cause such a problem with Tyki? Road thought to herself as she sat down next to Tyki and looked at him, _Tyki likes Allen way too much for him to call a meeting like this for a simple screw up_.

Jasdero and David had huddled together the whole time Tyki stomped around preparing for this meeting. They knew what was going on since they had been there many times before. They would usually only get off with minor punishments, but they couldn't tell what would happen to Allen with Tyki this angry. They took their seats next to Lulubellee, across from Tyki, and waited for the Earl to arrive.

Once the Earl came in and sat at the head of the table, Tyki sighed as he gathered his thoughts and he announced to everyone, "Our last mission was a success, which is a favorable turn of events for us. However, the mission was very nearly a failure because of Walker-san. Allen had the accommodater cornered and the Innocence in sight, but had a change of heart at the last moment and tried to save them both."

Tyki sighed solemnly and continued in a depressed voice, "I ran in and did the job for Allen. However, we need to punish Allen for his small betrayal." All of Tyki's initial hatred was gone and he was starting to feel sorry for Allen. He knew this had to be done; something like this would not be acceptable to the Earl.

"What should we do then? I do not like to punish my childern." The Earl stood up, his voice flat and emotionless. "We must think of a punishment. Do my dears have any suggestions of how we should punish your brother?"

Road was very torn at this point. She still wanted to believe that Allen was connecting with them but was all so confused why at the last moment he would have had a change of heart. Of course, Road really didn't want to punish her dear Allen so severely, so she thought of an idea that wasn't all that cruel. "Well," Road said shyly, "we could just send him to bed without supper. We all know how much Allen likes to eat."

Tyki pulled out a cigarette, lit up and took a few puffs as Road came up with an idea. Tyki exhaled a cloud of smoke before saying, "That's being a little too nice Road. He's fifteen, not five."

"Besides that idea is stupid," the twins said together as they waved off Road's childish idea. Jasdero and David came up with an idea simultaneously soon afterward and raised their hand excitedly as if they were school kids who knew an answer.

After, Tyki acknowledged them irritably, David said, "We could torment him by reminding him of that baka master of his constantly."

"And we still have the bills to add to the torture," Jasdero added as he tagged on a snicker after him and his brother voiced their brilliant idea.

Road pouted her lips and placed her hands on her hips. "And you said my idea was stupid."

Tyki dragged again on his cigarette before agreeing with Road. "Yeah guys. If we really wanted to torture him mentally, we would just have Road screw with his mind."

Lulubellee had been sitting at the table listening to the opinions being voiced while filing down her nails. As she examined the job she done, an idea popped into her head. "Well," Lulubellee started in her mellow voice, "I still need a replacement for Mimi. We could have him be my new servant for a month and make him wear a Lolita maid outfit." Lulubellee really hated doing her own nails and she also wanted pay back after Allen ruined her last mission to retrieve the egg from the Order.

Tyki hung his head in shame as he tried to picture Allen in a maid's outfit. Tyki took the cigarette out of his mouth for a moment as he explained to Lulubelle in an awkward voice, "Lulu, that's just cruel and unusual. Besides, I think you only suggested that because all of the other Akuma aren't as faithful as Mimi was."

"Hey, just because it's a punishment, it doesn't mean that it can't benefit anyone else," Lulubelle pointed out before deciding to remain quiet after voicing her one opinion and returned to her nails.

Tyki puffed at his cigarette in thought as Tyki tried to think of a way to teach Allen some sort of lesson that would be grueling to him but not cruel and unusual like Lulubelle's suggestion. One popped in his head and he said through his cigarette, "We could make him play strip poker and rig the game so he loses." Tyki still wanted revenge for stripping him down before and he figured Allen would consider that a painful torture.

Jasdero and David began laughing hysterically at the thought Tyki had proposed and David said through his fit of uncontrollable laughter, "Nice idea Tickie! Force him to loose at strip poker! That's rich!!!"

Road started to blush feverishly at Tyki's mention of strip poker. "St-St-St-Strip p-poker?" she stuttered out bashfully as the images started to stir in her head...

_"Tyki~" the shirtless Allen complained as he looked at Tyki's full house, "I only have a pair of twos." Allen sighed and went for the fly of his pants and began to undo the zipper. After he was only in his boxers, Tyki dealt their hands again and Allen looked pathetically at his hand with nothing to play while Tyki was sitting high with four aces. Allen discarded and drew again to find that he still had nothing in his hand. After they laid their hands down, Allen hung his head in shame and reached for the brim of his boxers and began to..._

Road covered her mouth and squealed into her fists as the thought continued on in her head, her face now vibrant red with pleasure.

Tyki glanced at Road in her fit of excitement, a little afraid of what was going on in her head. Tyki took another puff of his cigarette before saying, "Strike that. I think Road would like that punishment a little too much."

The Earl sat back and watched his children. He giggled when he heard the last idea. "I think he will get over that too soon, my dears. We need something that will be with him forever, something that is not easy to forget or block from his mind." The Earl's permanent smile grew bigger. "Well, my dears, how about an Akuma?" Seeing that his children had not gotten it yet, he explained, "We can have him make an Akuma. It can be his punishment and a reminder of what he has done. Do we all agree?"

All of the Noah looked from one to another as they tried to figure out silently if any of the others objected while trying to decide for themselves if it was a good punishment. Tyki looked back to the Earl, nodded his head and then said, "Very well. We'll have Allen create an Akuma. However, I think we're all tired from the mission today. Why don't we let him off for today and then we'll do this first thing tomorrow?"

Tyki looked around again to see if any one would object. When no one did, Tyki announced, "Meeting adjourned." Tyki knocked on the table to simulate a gavel at a courtroom and then put out his cigarette in the ashtray near his seat. He stood up and made his way for the door and turned down the hall towards Allen's room.

As the twins got up and left through the other door towards their room, Lulubelle went back to her book and the Earl seemed to disappear to somewhere else on the Ark, Road decided to follow Tyki, assuming that Tyki was going to go and release Allen from his confinement._ I know that this needs to be done and all she thought to himself, But can Allen really do it if he couldn't kill a human?_

Tyki walked up to the two level three Akuma guarding the door, snapped his fingers ,and said sternly, "Leave."

The Akuma bowed nervously and then vanished quickly without a trace, still a bit afraid of being destroyed.

Tyki sighed as he went up to the door and calmly unlocked the doors and then gently rapped at the doors. Tyki looked behind him at Road before he sighed and then said calmly to the doors, "Allen? You all right in there? Listen... sorry I burst out at you like that." Tyki leaned his back up against the door as he continued, "It's just I thought... you were really bonding with us and starting get accustomed to our side... I guess it's still too soon for that..."

Allen looked up at the doors at the sound of Tyki's voice. He walked over to one of the doors and opened it. He could tell by the way Road and Tyki looked at him that he had to look like hell.

Tyki smiled for Allen as he saw his head peek out the door. However, he couldn't really keep the smile as he saw how troubled and sad Allen had looked. Tyki followed Allen into his room and sat down at his desk and fiddled around with the teacups on his desk that they had left there from the day before. Tyki wanted to try and comfort Allen somehow but he didn't really know what to say at this point.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, going back to his bed and sitting down once more. "I screwed it up. I just... I just couldn't do it..." He folded his arms on his knees and rested his chin on them.

Road walked in cautiously after Allen, sat down next to him and tenderly wrapped her arms around him in an effort to comfort him. "We still love you Allen," Road said to Allen, "Members of any family mess up every once in awhile and they have to correct themselves. That still doesn't mean that the rest of the family has to hate that member of the family." Road let Allen out of her embrace and she rubbed his shoulder gently and smiled tenderly for him.

Allen leaned into Road's hug. "Thanks, Road," he mumbled. He almost wanted to somehow keep Road's arms around him when she let go. It was like when Lenalee hugged him back at the Order. It was comforting, and at the moment, that comfort was more than welcome.

"So what's my punishment? Is the Earl going to kill me now?" Allen smiled ruefully. Maybe dying wasn't a bad idea. It meant he could escape his fate as a Noah. But then he thought of how Lenalee would feel if he were to die and felt more tears coming. He bitterly wiped them away.

"The Earl can't afford to lose any more of his children at a time like this," Tyki explained to Allen. "You're punishment is a solo mission, but we decided that we'll let you rest for the day to recuperate from today's... predicament." Tyki chose his words as carefully as possible to try and not upset Allen more than he already was.

"Where's Tim?" he asked. They hadn't let him keep Timcanpy with him when they'd locked him in his room before.

Tyki smacked himself on the forehead after Allen reminded him about his golem. When Tyki and the twins ran off to fend off the other exorcists, they're demonic thoughts were too preoccupied to even spare a second thought for the golem that they were guarding. "It's back in Denmark," Tyki said while holding the bridge of his nose, now slightly angry with himself, "We left it alone after your friends showed up and forgot to retrieve it after the fight."

"You... left Tim?" Allen didn't know why, but he could feel panic rising. This was good, right? Lenalee and Lavi could find him now, right? But for some reason, he didn't want to leave his new family. "We've got to find him! He probably thinks you guys have murdered me by now!"

Tyki shook his head and explained, "There's no point trying to go back and get it. For one thing, it doesn't really know where we are, so it holds no threat to us. Also, it's probably with your old friends now and they've probably left Denmark by now, so we'd have to go find them."

Tyki stood up from the desk and he took the tray with the coffee and teacups and pots and he said, "All right Allen-kun. I'll let you rest for now. Take some time to think things over. I'll call you down when supper is ready." With that, Tyki left Allen alone with Road. Normally, Tyki would object to that, but he figured that Allen needed at least some sort of company at this point.

Road watched Tyki leave the room and then looked back at Allen, still feeling sorry for him. She could only imagine what it would be like for him tomorrow when they forced him to make an Akuma for the first time if he couldn't even bring himself to simply kill a human. "Um..." She started in an unsure voice. "Do... do you want me to read more of that book to you?" Road felt like she needed to make it up to Allen somehow and at least take his mind off the day's events before they went and tortured him yet again.

Allen glanced at the book he'd left on his nightstand. "I can read it to you, if you want," he said, picking it up and flipping through it.

He sighed and closed it. "You know what, nevermind. I don't really feel like reading." He didn't feel like much of anything, and that scared him a little. The last time it had been like this, it had been when he thought his Innocence was gone for good. He felt lost and just wanted to find his way again.

Road was slightly concerned in his sudden change of moods and was unsure what to do about this. Figuring it still had something to do about them punishing him like this, Road placed her hand on his and entwined her fingers between his in a small effort to comfort him. "Then what do you want to do?" Road asked in a comforting voice.

"I... don't know what I want to do..." he muttered. He leaned his head against Road's shoulders and felt tears roll down his cheeks again.

Road blushed slightly as Allen leaned on her shoulder but she rid herself of it with a tender sigh. She reached over with her other hand and started stroking Allen's head to soothe away his sorrow. Road noticed tears streaming down his face and she wiped away his tears gently.

"Is there something wrong with me?" he asked. He closed his eyes to try and stop the tears, but they continued to come. "I'm useless as a Noah and I still can't get over the fact that girl died. Why?" He felt sick again. He really was useless.

"You're not useless Allen-kun," Road said to try to cheer Allen up. "You're just not used to this side yet. Once you are, I'm sure you'll be a great help to us." She hugged Allen and gave him a quick peck on the top of his head. Road then looked down at Allen, seeing that he was still in his human form. _Well, at least he now knows how to do that,_ she thought to herself. _If his human side can't bear to kill anyone... then once his Noah form truly awakens, he'll be a mass murderer with a malice on par with even Tickie._

Allen didn't know why, but he felt tired and dizzy, like sleep was trying to pull him away from Road's comfort. "Road," he muttered, trying to stay awake, "what is my punishment? I really... want to know what..." He couldn't finish his sentence. He'd drifted off to sleep in Road's arms.

Road looked down sorrowfully as Allen began to ask about his punishment. She didn't want to tell him because, like Tyki said, they wanted him to relax and regain his strength for the day. Road was sure Allen wouldn't be able to relax with the burden of having to make an Akuma hovering over his head.

Road opened her mouth to retort against Allen's wish but he had already nodded off in her arms. She smiled and gave a small sigh of relief. She laid Allen down, pulled the covers over him carefully and kissed him on the forehead. "Sweet dreams Allen-kun."

* * *

Comments from Sailorstar165, the formatter:

Ugh, this chapter was really hard to format. Everything kept going back and forth between good and bad guys during the fight. It was crazy, but overall, I think I managed it pretty well.

...There was your blood lust, people who wanted it, and there's more to come, me thinks.

Road's little fantasy is brought to you by xTwilight_Angelx.

Oh, and one more thing: The fanfic has finally caught up with the RP. It'll take longer to post chapters from now on, so please be patient. If you want to read the unformatted posts, go to our homepage and check out the RP itself.

There was an anonymous review I'd like to reply to here, since I can't reply any other way:

Kyohaku-chan, it focuses more on the Noah because Twilight and I are on a lot more than Sora is in that RP. Besides, the story's more about Allen becoming a Noah and not on Lenalee and Lavi. As for Jasdevi juggling, I don't remember them juggling Pineapples, and apparently neither did Twilight.

Please, if you can avoid it, don't review anonymously with questions. It bothers me when I can't reply and there's a question or something I want to reply to.

As always, thanks for reading! Check out some of the other RPs turned fanfiction that Twilight (our wonderful Noah) has formatted! See ya!


	11. The Other Allen

Lenalee stood outside the front door with Lavi and let Kanda handle the girl's body. Lavi was good with people, and she knew she didn't want to be alone telling the poor girl's parents what had happened.

"Lavi... What should we say?" she asked, sitting down on the front steps of the house. "They're daughter's dead because we weren't able to protect her... What _can_ we say?"

Lavi glanced down at the motionless girl in Kanda's arms. "Well... we can't really tell them about the Noah... But if we don't say something relating to all this, someone's bound to be turned into an Akuma, and we can't have that either."

Lavi crossed his arms and closed his eyes in thought. After a few moments of thinking, Lavi suggested, "I think we should at least sit the parents down and calmly, but seriously, tell them about the Innocence and the Earl. That way, if we warn them ahead of time, they'll try their very best not to go into complete depression and become one of the Earl's victims."

Lavi reopened his eyes and looked back up at Kanda and Lenalee. He knew that they shouldn't speak of this sort of thing to innocent people, but Lavi couldn't see how they would be able to get around this problem any other way. "Can you think of anything better, Lenalee?" Lavi wasn't going to ask Kanda about this sort of thing.

"I... think we should tell them about the Akuma and that their daughter's death was related to them..." Lenalee said, chewing on her lip. "We shouldn't tell them about the Earl, since that will put them in danger... Maybe... Maybe we can say we were chasing after an Akuma and Tyra here was caught in the cross-fire." She sighed. That was a lame excuse at best. "Still, we need to warn them that they can't wish her back and explain about the Akuma." Lenalee shook her head. That was about all they could.

Kanda just stared at Lavi in silence, not really sure about what they would say himself. Of course, Kanda would be straightforward and leave it at that, but he understood Lavi's reasoning as well, even though he himself would never put that much thought or care into it.

He looked down at the lifeless body in his arms blankly. He frowned when he noticed that the girl's eyes were still opened, rather widely in fact. Kanda fixed his hold on the girl as he let go of the girl with his right hand and gently closed the girl's eyelids shut. Quickly, he then put his arm in its original position. Whether Kanda liked people or not, he still had some respect for the dead.

Kanda then heard the fluttering of wings near them. He lifted his head, only to see Timcanpy flying around above Lavi and Lenalee's heads. "Oye, isn't that the Moyashi's golem?"

Lenalee blinked and looked up at the gold golem fluttering urgently above their heads. "Timcanpy!" she said, surprised. "I thought you were with Allen!" Tim landed on her head and tapped her cheek. "We can't leave now, Tim. We need to tell this girl's parents what happened."

Timcanpy shook his whole body like a human would shake their head as if to say, "We need to go _now_!" He gripped a lock of Lenalee's hair in his teeth and tugged lightly, trying to get her to move.

"Tim... We have to stay. I'm sorry, but..." She looked helplessly at Lavi.

Lavi sighed as the panicked Timcanpy tried to drag them away. He figured that Timcanpy was worried about Allen. As much as Lenalee and he wanted to follow Timcanpy, they had to take care of the girl first. "We're sorry, Tim, but we have to settle this matter first..." Lavi said, glancing down at the girl.

Timcanpy seemed to understand, from what Lavi could tell, but that didn't settle him down too much. This worried Lavi. He had an idea for why Timcanpy was so restless at the moment, but he would have to deal with that possibility later.

Lavi then turned away from Timcanpy, and faced Lenalee as he said, "Lenalee, I know you want to follow him and see what's up. So do I, but we need to stay here and wait for the girl's family. That also means we can't have Tim going crazy like this. Help me settle him down some, please? Apparently our reason for not going with him now didn't help any." Of course, Lavi didn't bother asking Kanda for help. If anything, he would probably make matters worse.

Lenalee reached up and somehow got Tim to let go of her hair. "Please Tim, just be patient," she said, holding him tightly in her hands. "We'll look for Allen right after we finish this." She leaned back against the stair behind her and felt something poke her. She picked up what seemed to be a sketchbook and pencil. The open page was an unfinished drawing of the garden. Lenalee closed the book and set it next to her. Tyra's parents would probably want it.

* * *

Child Allen opened his eyes. The Noah version of himself was nowhere to be seen, though. "Noah? Where are you?" he asked. Something didn't feel right. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Up here."

Child Allen looked up.

Noah Allen was sitting up in the branches, frowning at him. "Why didn't you kill her?" he asked.

"W-what?"

"That accommodater. Why didn't you kill her? You wanted to." The Noah's frown grew. "Was it because of the redhead?"

Child Allen glared. "I couldn't kill her because she was human! I don't want to hurt any humans!"

Noah Allen jumped down from his perch. He seemed so much taller up close, and much more dangerous. "I was trying to be nice and let you have your way as a Noah," he grumbled. All the kindness he'd shown the child was gone. "Looks like I can't let you be you anymore, kid."

"W-what do you mean?" Child Allen tried to stand, tried to back away from the Noah, but his body wouldn't move. "W-we're the same, aren't we?"

"No, we aren't," the Noah said, still coming closer. "We're hardly the same." He laughed when Child Allen stared up at him with frightened eyes. "You're a weak little nobody who's neither Noah nor Apostle. I, on the other hand, know where my loyalties lie." He wrapped his fingers around Allen's throat. "I have no use for you."

Child Allen let out a gasping sob, but couldn't fight back. _Road! Please! Help me!_ He wasn't sure if she could hear him, but it was his only chance.

* * *

Road sat on the side of the bed and watched over Allen. She reached over for his book and was about to read it when she thought, _I'm sure Allen wants to read this to me at some time. I wouldn't want to spoil the story for myself if he's gonna do that for me._ Road then settled for just staring at the book's cover and analyzing the artistic talent of the cover's illustration.

Road glanced from the cover of the book and down at Allen, whose eyelids were twitching as he slept. "He must be dreaming," Road said as she laid the book down and watched over Allen. She was then surprised as she watched how Allen's scars returned and the dark skin started to creep up from his shirt collar. _That's odd,_ she thought to herself as she continued to watch Allen's body. _We're only usually able to do that consciously... How is he managing this while he's unconscious?_

After his transformation was complete, Allen's head started to loll from side to side as he rasped in his sleep, "Road... Please... Help me..." A little afraid of what he was dreaming about, Road shook Allen gently and said, almost shouting, "Allen-kun, Allen-kun. Wake up, Allen-kun."

Allen opened his gold eyes slowly. "Is it time for dinner already?" he asked, all traces of his earlier depression gone. "I must've been out for a while." He stretched and glanced at his clock--it wasn't even close to dinnertime. "Aw, Road, why'd you wake me up?" He frowned at the smaller Noah. "Were you getting bored or something?"

Road looked at Allen a little baffled as he sat up and he sounded a little different and a lot happier than when he did before he fell asleep. _M-Maybe a little sleep was all he really needed_.

Road smiled as she assumed Allen was feeling better. She shook her head slightly and said, "No, It looked like you were having a nightmare so I woke you up." Road cocked her head to the side and averted Allen's gaze and said, "Although, I guess I was getting a smidgen bored while you were asleep." She looked back up at Allen with a sly smile. "Are you feeling up to doing something?"

Allen picked up the book and flipped through it to where they'd last left off. "Sure," he said brightly. "How about we read?" He shifted the book so that it was sitting on both their laps. "Same as last time?" he asked, referring to how they'd read it. Road had enjoyed doing all the fairies, after all.

Road nodded her head happily as Allen suggested reading and sat next to her. Road scooted closer to Allen so it was easier for both of them to read and also to just be nearer to Allen in general. The two of them took turns reading each of their parts, Allen reading the main character and Road took the part of the fairies. Road was enjoying her time with Allen like this and was glad that Allen was feeling better or at least was making a strong effort to do so.

Come suppertime, Tyki finished up a round of cards with some of his card-playing level three Akuma and raked up all the chips on the table to his corner. He looked up at the clock and he said, "All right Akuma, it's time for me to eat. Out with the lot of you." The Akuma grumbled to themselves as they left Tyki's room, still wanting to play a few more hands. Tyki shook his head at them, slipped his tux coat on and made his way over to Allen's room.

Tyki was about to knock when he heard the cheerful voices of Allen and Road saying something about fairies. A little curious as to what was going on, he knocked twice at the door and then poked his head in to find the two of them sitting together, reading a book. "Well, you certainly look a lot better," Tyki said as he noted Allen's smiling face. Tyki pointed behind him with his thumb and said, "It's time to eat. Let's get going." Tyki then left the two of them to make their own way down to the dinning room as Tyki walked down there himself.

Allen folded the top corner of the page they were on and shut the book. "Well? Shall we?" Allen followed Road to the dining hall, memorizing the path they took so he wouldn't get lost on his own.

When the reached the dining hall, Allen pulled Road's chair out for her to sit, then took the seat next to her. He noticed with a little apprehension the Earl hadn't arrived yet. Allen knew he still had to be punished for screwing up earlier, and he had a feeling the Earl would make his punishment clear when he arrived.

The Earl walked in after everyone was seated. After taking his seat at the head of the table, dinner started. The Earl turned his gaze to Allen and smiled. He'd picked out the perfect victims for Allen's punishment. He just had to hope that the girl's family would fall into depression. He decided to wait a bit before telling Allen the news. He started to eat when he decided to start some small talk with his children. "So how was the rest of your day?"

The conversation paused as the Akuma maids filed in and placed three large platters of sushi in the middle of the table along with fried rice and grilled vegetables. After the maids retreated into the darkness, Tyki started grabbing a few pieces of sushi with his chop sticks and putting them on his plate "After we got Allen situated, my afternoon was very relaxing and much needed." Tyki had taken a quick nap on his very comfortable bed and then called for the Akuma to play cards for him.

Jasdero and David pouted grumpily as they started scooping some rice onto their plates and then said in unison, "Ours wasn't." After the meeting, the twins had gone to their room and tried to juggle three apples again. However, it didn't seem like they had enough skill yet to keep the apples going. It was very frustrating for them, and they ended up fighting with each other since they made fun of each other's failures.

Road smiled as she reminisced on her time with Allen after he cheered up that afternoon as she pick out some of the pieces of nigiri that was just a piece of shrimp and a ball of rice. "Allen-kun's and mine was good." Road spoke for the two of them as she offered him some fried rice. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes. Sorry about falling asleep on you," Allen replied. He accepted the bowl of fried rice from Road and took at least one of everything. That would be enough for the moment and would give the rest of the family a chance to take seconds if they wanted. "How was yours, Earl?" Allen asked politely.

The Earl looked up from his plate. "It was nice. I had a very good day." He looked around the table. _When to tell Allen Walker? When?_ the Earl thought

The rest of dinner was rather enjoyable with little conversation going on between one another. When dessert finally came out, all the Noah made the cross on their foreheads and Jasdero and David made the small prayer to Skin once again. Tonight the maids had prepared New York style cheese cake with black berry jam drizzled atop with a dollop of whip cream. The twins dug right in.

Tyki forked at the cake slightly tense. Not only did he not want to ruin dessert again somehow, but he also had a gut feeling the Earl might say something about Allen's punishment, which would ruin Allen's night. Tyki savored his cake as he looked shiftily between Allen and the Earl next to him.

Road ate the first piece of her cheesecake with much delight as she savored its flavor. "Mmmm..." she hummed as she sucked on her fork. "This is really sweet. Don't you agree Allen-kun?"

"Yes, it's very good," Allen said. He finished the slice of cake and put down his fork. He glanced over at the Earl, who seemed to be thinking about something or another, probably about how to break to him what his punishment would be. It wasn't like he couldn't take it, whatever it was, so Allen asked, "Is there something on your mind, Earl?"

The Earl chewed his fork a moment. "Just thinking of how to tell you your punishment." He set down his fork. "Tomorrow, you're to create an Akuma. I have already found you a victim. Sleep well for tomorrow. I'll give you the details then. Enjoy your cheesecake." The Earl stood up and exited the room.

Allen wasn't too surprised by the Earl's decided punishment. After all, it would make him have to prove his loyalty by helping the Earl out. Besides, Allen looked a little less intimidating than the Earl did. He'd probably be good at getting someone to create an Akuma.

Allen turned to one of the Akuma. "Could I have some more cheesecake?" he asked it. The Akuma nodded and cut Allen another slice.

The fact that Allen had blatantly waved off the fact that he had to make an Akuma like it was nothing left all the other Noah in a slight daze of confusion and bafflement. The twins both stared slack-jawed at Allen and then asked as they cocked their heads to the side, "Oto-kun? You all right?" Jasdero and David both knew Allen was opposed to the whole idea of Akuma in the first place because of his former days as an exorcists and were almost positive he still was since he couldn't bring himself to just kill a human.

Tyki put his fork down after he finished his last bite of cheesecake and said in a concerned voice, "You know Allen," he picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth, "it's admirable for you to take your punishment like a man. However, you don't have to cover up your feelings for us." Tyki eyed Allen suspicious as he tried to figure out what was really going on in his head. _Something's no right here,_ Tyki thought. _There's no way Allen could take that punishment so lightly._

Road looked at Allen curiously as she sucked on her fork after she finished her cheesecake. _I wonder if that nightmare he was having earlier had something to do with this,_ she thought to herself. Allen had seemed different ever since he woke up and was changing by the minute; Road couldn't help but worry. She didn't want to Alarm the others with her passing thought so she just remained quiet.

"I'm fine," Allen said. He took another rather large bite of cheesecake. "In fact, I've never been better." He finished his cake, still smiling brightly. He looked from face to face a moment. "What? Is something wrong? Did you get sour blackberries?"

He knew why they were shocked. "Allen" would've reacted to the Earl's telling him to create an Akuma. "Allen" would have been upset by it. "Allen" would have asked for any punishment but that. But he wasn't that "Allen." He was a different "Allen," one that was willing to do as the Earl asked.

The Noah looked at each other curiously as they tried to figure out how to respond. The twins felt that if their brother was feeling fine then there was no need to try and spoil it. Both Jasdero and David were curious as to what caused his change of heart; they had a gut feeling that Road and Allen did something "fun" together. They stood up together and pointed their guns at each other as they stretched and said, "Well, we're off. Ja ne, Oto-kun."

As Tyki sipped at his cup of coffee that the Akuma maid had given him to finish off his dessert, he tried to figure out a way he could get Allen to loosen up a bit and possibly tell him where his new attitude came from. He was obviously hiding some fact from them since his new act was laid on a bit thick. An idea struck Tyki and he smirked devilishly as he set down his empty mug.

Tyki leaned his one elbow on the table as he turned to look at Allen. "Oye Allen, we never got to have our little wager yet. You wanna come on over to my room and play a few hands?"

_Wager?_ Road eyed Tyki suspiciously. _They made bet?_ Road tried to remember a time when they could have done something like that when she left them alone and Allen was in good health. _Oh,_ she thought as the memory came back to her, _they must have made that back when I stormed out of Allen's room two days ago._ Now curious as to what the wager actually was, Road sweetly asked, "Came I come too Tickie?"

"Only if Allen wants to play," Tyki replied as he waited for Allen to make up his mind.

"I'd love to play," Allen said, once again setting down his fork. "And Road can come, if she'd like. It might get a little boring, though, depending what and how we play." He followed Tyki to his room.

"Well? What shall we play?" His eyes glimmered briefly. "Shall I wipe the floor with you at strip poker again?" He knew Tyki wouldn't allow him to win again, not in front of Road, at least.

"We might get into that later," Tyki said, waving away the idea. Tyki of course wanted revenge but didn't want to degrade himself that quickly if by some chance he'd loose. "We'll start off with a game Road can play, like Rummy."

Tyki lead the two of them to his door, which he phased through and unlocked from the inside. "Take your shoes off guys," Tyki said as he opened the door and made room for them to enter, already in a pair of black slippers.

Road had been blushing the whole time that they walked to Tyki's room. Once Allen mentioned the idea of them playing strip poker was just running through her head the entire time. She of course wasn't really looking forward to seeing her "uncle" naked, but just the thought of Allen shirtless was making her head spin with excitement and pleasure.

When Tyki opened the door to his room. Road immediately kicked her shoes off which went flying into his room. She belly flopped onto the bed and then began bouncing on it while she giggled gleefully to herself. Tyki's bed was the nicest and the softest of all the Noah's, so Road naturally had the tendency to steal his bed whenever she got the chance.

"Road! Get off of there!" Tyki scolded Road as she jumped on his bed. Once the giggling girl finally dismounted his bed and sat down at the card table, Tyki took off his tux coat and gloves and sat them down at his chair. He then went over to the mini bar and pulled out a new deck of normal cards.

"Eto, Allen..." Tyki said as he reached into the mini bar once again and pulled out two tall, skinny glasses, one short, stout glass and a metallic drink mixer. "You don't mind if I drink do you?" Tyki asked as he pulled out a bottle of vodka and a pitcher of lemonade. Tyki knew that Allen didn't like the smell of alcohol, so, if he objected to him drinking, Tyki would know that nothing was wrong and that he was just hiding his emotions. If he didn't oppose of the idea, however, then something was up, and Tyki would have to move on to the second part of his plan.

Allen shrugged. "As long as I don't have to drink it and it doesn't smell too strong," he said. He pulled off his shoes as well and sat across from where he assumed Tyki would sit. "You wouldn't happen to have anything that isn't alcoholic, would you?" Allen didn't want to be a killjoy with the alcoholic beverages, but he hated the stuff. Noah or not, he'd still been traumatized by Cross, and trauma from Cross stuck around for a long time.

"I'll take a cherry cola!" Road said eagerly as she raised her hand from the table.

Tyki poured his alcohol and juice into the mixer and shook it up to mix the two liquids. Tyki reached into the icebox and pulled out three ice cubes and dropped one into each glass. He then poured the contents of the mixer into the short glass and then set the mixer off to the side so he could go for a refill later.

Then he went back into the mini bar and rummaged through the icebox for what kinds of juice he had and also for Road's cola. "Hope you like lemonade," Tyki said as he pulled out a glass bottle of cherry cola, "It's all I really got..." Tyki then found a container of iced tea and said to Allen, "No wait I got some tea. How about lemon ice tea?"

Tyki popped off the cap and poured it into one of the tall glasses. He then reached back into the icebox and pulled out the bottle of iced tea but also stealthily pulled out a small bottle of liquor in the same hand as the tea. Tyki poured the tea a third of the way full, and then emptied out a shot's worth of liquor into Allen's glass as well. Tyki then filled the rest of the glass up with the iced tea and then stirred Allen's drink with a long spoon.

Tyki brought the three drinks over on a waiter's platter and gave Road and Allen their drinks. Tyki took a swig of his drink before going back to the mini bar to set the platter down. "Hey Shounen," Tyki said as he refilled his glass slightly, "Why don't we add a twist to our wager right now while we have full glasses? Let's play a drinking game. Every time you lose at a hand you have to take a drink. The one with the most in their glass at the end of the game is the winner and the loser has to follow through on our wager. What do you say, Allen?"

The game seemed harmless enough. He'd been talking to Road and hadn't noticed Tyki mess with his drink. "Sure, that sounds fair. You wanna play too, Road?" he asked. He figured that since she had a drink too, she might as well be involved in the game. Then Allen turned back to Tyki. "So what're we playing? Poker?"

Road held her hand up to Allen as she sipped at her drink. Once she finished her sip she said to Allen, "This is a bet between the two of you. I'll just stay out and watch." Road had a feeling this bet was about her to some degree, but she also wanted to just be a spectator if by some chance Tyki and Allen got into strip poker. Either way, Road just liked watching things play out, like how she enjoyed watching Akuma kill people.

Tyki smirked as his plan worked out and went into the minibar again pulled out his decorative, black and gray cards. "We'll just play normal poker for now." Tyki sat down at his chair and pulled off his gloves and rolled up his sleeves. "Remember Allen, no sleeves or gloves." Tyki didn't care either way because his method of cheating didn't consist of sticking cards up his sleeves. Tyki was a master of sleight of hand and could shuffle the deck to his liking, as long as he got a glimpse of the deck before working with the cards.

Tyki unlocked the wooden box and fanned the cards out and flipped them over to show Allen again the complexity of the cards once Allen's sleeves were rolled up. Tyki stole a glance at where all the high cards were and he then pulled the cards together into one pile and began shuffling it. Tyki smiled a little as he shuffled and then dealt five cards each. Tyki looked at his cards with a blank poker face as he observed his hand of two eights, two jacks, and an ace. "You first Allen," Tyki said as he waited for Allen to draw.

Allen frowned. His hand was horrible, but he had a feeling Tyki had cheated him somehow. He'd let Tyki win a few hands to lull the Noah into a false sense of security, then cheat him. Allen didn't need sleeves to cheat either. He'd shuffle a few times and wipe the floor with Tyki in much the same way as the Noah was cheating him now.

He drew his cards, frowned, then threw his cards down. Nothing would save that hand. "I lose," he said. He picked up his glass and sipped some of the sweet, lemony tea. There was a hint of something in it, some taste that was faintly familiar to Allen but too small to name, but he figured that it was just a kind of tea he'd had a while before while traveling.

Tyki smirked as he won with two pairs and took the cards back and fanned the cards again as a taunt and looked for the high cards again. Tyki went through his fancy shuffling and dealt five cards again. Tyki looked at his hand of three queens and two scrap cards. After Allen drew and discarded, Tyki discarded his two scrap cards and picked up another number and the last queen. They showed each other their hands and Tyki announced, "Four Queens." Tyki wasn't sure how much it would take Allen to get drunk but he was hoping it would be sooner rather than later so he could finally ask what was wrong with him.

As Road took a sip of her soda, she watched Allen lose again. She set her glass back down, crossed her legs on her chair and then said, "Allen, I thought you were good at this game."

"I'm just having an off-night, I guess," he said, taking another sip of his drink.

They played a few more rounds, each time with Allen losing. He was starting to get fed up with the stupid game, especially since it didn't seem like Tyki was going to let him shuffle anytime soon and just keep cheating him.

"You know what, I'm sick of this," Allen said angrily, his speech a little slurred but still understandable. He tossed down his hand, tried to stand up, but his legs wobbled and made him fall back into his chair. Irritated, he tried again, this time managing a few steps before tripping over his own feet and falling on the ground. He held his head. He was starting to feel ill. He didn't know why, though.

"Allen!" Road cried as she watched Allen fall flat on his face. Road went over to his side and helped him up. "Allen are you all right?" she asked as she struggled to prop him back up into his chair. As she struggled to Allen sit in his chair, her nose passed over Allen's glass. She automatically caught the faint smell of alcohol wafting from his glass. _Alcohol?_ she thought as she identified the smell from Allen's glass and looked over at Tyki who took a sip of his own drink, _You son of a...You slipped Allen alcohol didn't you Tyki? _

Tyki stood up and reached for Allen when he fell over, but Road tended to Allen first. Tyki sat back down knowing that he was in good hands and took a victory swig of his own drink. After Allen was back in his seat he said, "Let's just play rummy for now." Tyki shuffled the deck normally and dealt out seven cards to Allen, Road and himself and flipped the top card over to start the game.

As their game went on, Tyki started loosening up himself with his own drink and finally stirred up conversation. "So how do you like it here so far?" Tyki asked Allen as he waited for Road to finish her turn. "You must be content here to some degree if you don't mind your punishment all that much."

It took Allen a moment to realize Tyki was talking to him. He felt really off for some reason. "I like it here," he muttered. "It jus' took some gettin' used to." Road finished her turn, so he waited for Tyki to go. "The punishment's not that bad. Woulda been b'fore, but not anymore." He grinned drowsily. "Got ridda that Allen, so there won't be anymore problems..." His head drooped. "No more problems at all." He slumped in his chair, out cold from the alcohol. It didn't take much to make Allen drunk.

After Allen's head hit the table, Road shook his shoulders gently to see if he would wake back up, but Allen was down for the count. The first thing Road did after she was sure Allen was out was punch Tyki in the arm. "Baka! How much alcohol did you give him?" Road was mad not only because Tyki was irresponsible and gave him alcohol but also she was really hoping they'd get into strip poker.

Tyki rubbed his arm. "Only a shot's worth. He must not be able to hold his liquor." Tyki took a swig of his own drink as Allen's words replayed in his head: _The punishment's not that bad. Woulda been b'fore, but not anymore. Got ridda that Allen, so there won't be anymore problems... No more problems at all._ "Oye Road," Tyki asked seriously as he set his drink back down, "what do you think Allen meant when he said that he "got rid of Allen?" He is Allen, right?"

Allen's words replayed in Roads mind as well, but she had a better idea of what he was talking about. _Did Allen's Noah dream-self do something to his other half?_ She looked at Allen as he quietly snored to himself. "I'm not sure myself Tyki," Road lied as she took a last sip of her soda. She set the unfinished glass down and said, "I'm gonna go bug the Earl for now. Don't give him anything else you..." She held back her insult and summoned her door. She slipped her shoes on, glanced at Allen one more time and then exited through her door.

Tyki sighed and finished the rest of his drink in one gulp. Tyki cleaned up and then lifted Allen into his arms and carried him to his own room. Once they got there, Tyki laid Allen down on his side at the edge of his bed on the off chance he would compulsively vomit so he wouldn't choke to death on it. Tyki then sat down at Allen's desk and began building a card tower with the two decks he brought with him and kept an eye on Allen, still wondering if what Allen said had some meaning or if it was just drunken rambling.

* * *

Tyra's parents went to the supermarket and took their youngest daughter Myra to one of her friends. Both of them weren't really fond of this friend, but unlike Tyra, they thought that Myra would manage. They walked into the garden and saw some weird people hanging around their home.

"Who are you?" Tyra's mom asked. Tyra wasn't supposed to have people over when they weren't home and she knew that!

Lavi looked up at the two people standing in front of them sorrowfully and then stood as he took a deep breath, attempting to calm his nerves. It didn't work. Looking directly at the two people, who appeared to be the girl's parents, Lavi said, "I don't know if either of you have heard of it, but the three of us are Exorcists from the Black Order. We live to fight Akuma, who are enemies of this world..."

Lavi glanced down at Lenalee, hoping that she would help him out with explaining all of this to the two parents. But he couldn't wait for long. Lavi took another deep breath and continued. "Well... your daughter had something that the Akuma wanted. We tried the best we could, but we were too late..." Lavi closed his eye and hung his head as he moved out of the parents' way so they could see the lifeless corpse of their daughter laying in Kanda's arms.

The two listened to Lavi's story about the Black Order, Akuma, and Exorcists, but they didn't really believe it. Monsters didn't exist; everyone knew that.

"I'm sorry but that's..." Tyra's mother started. She wasn't able to finish when she saw her beloved daughter's corpse. "T-T-Tyra... What...? No... What did you...?"

Tyra's father wasn't really listening until he saw the body, and his expression changed. "You expect us to believe that?! What happened to our daughter?!"

Lavi avoided looking at the married couple in the eyes. "W-we're so sorry... There wasn't much we could do by the time we got here..." Still avoiding their eyes, Lavi thought, _Okay... I'm lying, but not completely... Hopefully they won't catch on. I mean, we're not really supposed to talk about this at all with people outside of the Order..._

Lavi turned to Lenalee, hoping she had something in mind in order to calm the two parents down. But she looked just as helpless as Lavi. He slowly turned his head to face the girl's parents and said, "S-she was killed... We tried our best, but time just wasn't on our side. We're all very sorry about this." Lavi glanced at Kanda slightly when he said "all".

In the midst of the married couple's slight panic, Lavi suggested, "Perhaps we should talk about this inside, if that's all right? I'm sure you two have a lot of questions, some of which we'll hopefully have answers for..."

The girl's parents allowed them inside, but it was probably more from shock than reason, Lenalee realized. They nodded mechanically every time Lenalee and Lavi told them something, like they didn't quite believe what was happening was real. Lenalee felt bad for them, but there wasn't much that could be done. The girl was dead, and there was no real cure for death.

After Lavi and Lenalee finished their explanation, Lenalee said, "Please, don't wish her back. The monsters that killed your daughter... they were souls wished back from the dead." She was lying a bit. The Noah had killed their daughter, but they didn't have to know that detail. In the end, it was the same result. "Your daughter..." Lenalee shook her head. "If you wish her back, her soul would be trapped in this world and forced to kill. Please, don't wish for her back."

When it seemed like the husband and wife understood, Lenalee stood. "We have to get going," Lenalee said. "Again, we're sorry for your loss." She didn't want to leave them, not yet, but they couldn't help it. Timcanpy wanted to continue looking for Allen. And so, they left and headed for the train station.

"Kanda..." she said in barely a whisper as they walked, "are you going to help us look for Allen?"

Kanda glanced at Lenalee for a moment, then looked away from her. He didn't really want to want to look for Allen, but he couldn't really go back to Headquarters empty-handed. He was sent to bring Lenalee and Lavi back with him, after all. Unless he was assigned another mission, he would stick around. Besides, after fighting with the Noah, Kanda was involved in all this as well.

Only eyeing Lenalee from the side without turning his head towards her at all, Kanda replied, "Until I get assigned to a new mission." Shortly after, the three exorcists boarded their train.

* * *

Comments from Sailorstar165:

Woot. Chapter. Okay, we're are _really_ caught up with the role-play now and I won't be posting another chapter for a while.

The drunk idea was entirely Twilight's idea. I went with it for kicks. :)

As always, questions, comments, concerns, and random outbursts are welcome. Oh, and please check out xTwilightxAngelx's (our Noah) format of Back at the Order while you wait for me to get the next chapter of this together. Or you can join Your-Role and mess around there by clicking the homepage link on the profile.

We have lots of fun, so check us out!


	12. Love

Tyki had spent the night in Allen's room to keep an eye on him because Tyki wasn't sure if he would have a bad reaction the small amount of alcohol he was slipped. The next morning, Tyki woke up just a little bit before Allen started to stir and groan awake. Tyki rebuttoned his vest and tied his tie as he said to Allen, "Ohayo."

Allen felt horrible waking up. The light was too bright. The few sounds in his room were too loud. Both worked together to make it feel like his head was about to explode.

He didn't want to open his eyes, but he knew he had to eventually. Once his headache was bearable, Allen opened his eyes and instantly regretted it. The light was twice as bright now that his eyes weren't closed. Still, he saw Tyki through the haze. "Tyki...?" He winced at the sound of his own voice. "What happened last night? I can't remember anything..."

_Wow he has a really low tolerance for alcohol_, he thought to himself. "We played some cards and you fell asleep from staying up too late," Tyki lied. He was definitely not going to tell the boy that he'd slipped him some alcohol. That would be an invitation for Allen to retaliate... after he wasn't feeling any of the effects of the night before, of course. "You feeling all right?" Tyki asked, slightly worried that the alcohol might have more done more damage then he'd originally thought.

Allen groaned. "It's too bright and loud," he complained. It hurt to even hear himself talk. "I feel terrible." He pulled the covers more tightly around himself. "I... think I'm catching something..." He groaned again and squeezed his eyes shut. Whatever he had, it sucked.

Outside, Road quit from her dreams earlier than most days since she was rather worried about the state Allen would be after Tyki got him drunk. Road rapped at Allen's door lightly in case he was still asleep.

Tyki winced himself as he heard some one knocking at the door. He was almost positive Allen heard that five times louder than what it should be. Tyki held his hand out and a black Tease melded from his hand and it fluttered to the door and landed on the handle, causing it to turn and open the door.

Road cautiously entered the room since the door seemed to open by itself. She peered in to see a Tease flutter back to Tyki on the love sofa while Allen was cocooned in his sheets. "Ohayo, Allen." Road called out softly from the door as she entered the room fully.

"Allen's not feeling well." Tyki stated in a soft voice to try and ease Allen's hearing.

_No thanks to you_, Road thought as she rolled her eyes and went into Allen's bathroom. She found two glasses upside-down by the sink and filled both up with water. She walked over to Allen's bedside and carefully set the water glasses on Allen's nightstand. "Drink," she said as she sat on the edge of Allen's bed and looked down at him. "It'll help your headache, I swear."

Tyki stood up knowing that Allen was in better hands and said quietly, "I'm going to freshen up for the day. I'll see you two at breakfast." Tyki left the room as quietly as possible and headed back to his room. On the way he walked passed an Akuma maid and he said to it with a slight smirk, "Could you go get Allen-kun some migraine pills and also bring Road and Allen some coffee? They're both in his room." Hang over or not, a bet was a bet to Tyki, and Allen had clearly lost.

The Akuma maid bowed to Tyki and then silently fetched a silver tray with a silver teapot of coffee, two porcelain cups and a small paper cup with two migraine pills. The Akuma took the silver tray and its contents to Allen's room.

* * *

Allen took the water Road handed him and sipped it. If he was getting sick, it probably wasn't a good idea to chug it. "This is almost as bad as when Cross slipped me rum," Allen grumbled into the now empty glass. In fact, it was about the same. And then there was the fact he couldn't remember anything from then either. Tyki's not that cruel, Allen told himself, but he had to rethink that when he saw the Akuma maid come in with some coffee.

"Ohayo," it said in a flat voice. It then raised the tray a little higher and explained, "Courtesy of Lord Mikk." It set the tray down on the nightstand. "Get well soon, Master Walker." It then bowed for the two and left the room without a sound.

Allen took the migraine pills and lay back down. He still felt horrible, but the medicine would probably help. "Road," he asked quietly, "did Tyki slip me something last night?" Road didn't have any reason to lie to him about it, at least none that he could think of in his sickly state.

Road sniffed the air as the Akuma maid set the platter down on the nightstand_. Can it really be?_ she thought excitedly as she lifted the top off the pot to see the dark brown liquid; it was indeed coffee. Road stared excitedly into the pot and quickly turned the two cups over and carefully poured both Allen and herself a cup of coffee.

At Allen's question, Road pursed her lips as she added a large amount of sugar to dampen the bitter taste and added a splash of milk. Road would have told Allen in a heartbeat that Tyki did such an irresponsible thing if it wasn't for the reason why Tyki had done it in the first place. Allen's drunken words played again in her head as she stirred the contents of her cup. "Uhhhh...." Road started as she stared at her cup. "N-no. I mean, why would he do something like that anyway?"

Road then took a sip of the forbidden elixir and instantly felt warm, delightful and energized as it poured down her throat. A wide grin played across her face as she offered the other cup to Allen and asked in a cheerful tone, "Would you like a cup?"

"I'm fine," Allen muttered. Even the smell of the coffee was overpowering. "Um... Road, please don't be too loud, okay? My head's killing me." The medicine he'd taken hadn't kicked in yet, and he was far from ready for Road on coffee.

Again, Allen cracked open an eye, this time to see what time it was. It was late in the morning for him, and he figured breakfast was ready and that the Earl was waiting for him to give him the details of the mission. He sat up shakily. He didn't really want to leave the warm comfort of his bed, but he knew he had to eventually. "Road, think you can leave so I can get changed?" The clothes they'd bought the other day had probably already been put away.

Road looked down at her cup and blushed as the idea of Allen changing came to mind. "Y-y-yeah, I'll get to that." Road left the room with her cup still in hand. She shut the door behind her and stared at the door as she continued to sip at her coffee. The more she drank of it, the more hyperactive she became. When her cup was almost empty, Road was bouncing on the balls of her feet waiting for Allen to finish. "You done yet, Allen?" she asked, as she was becoming anxious, waiting for him to change. He might have been sick, but Road couldn't really see a reason why it would take a guy so long to change.

It actually only took a few minutes for Allen to change into some of his new clothes and go out into the hall. The medicine was at last kicking in, but he still didn't think he could handle Road on caffeine by himself. "Come on, let's go to breakfast." He still felt like crap, but that didn't stop him from being hungry.

After Allen opened the door and revealed to Road that he was wearing his tuxedo, Road automatically glomped him. "Awww," she said as she hugged him tightly, rubbing her check against his, "You look just like a mini Tyki." Road hugged for a second more before pulling him to his feet and dragging him to the dining room at an almost running pace.

Once of the two of them arrived, Road let go of Allen's hand and eagerly sat down at her chair, leaving a chair between Tyki and herself for Allen. Road automatically snatched a piece of toast, and she buttered it as she hummed a tuneless song to herself.

Tyki wore a small smirk of satisfaction as he caught Road's cheerful attitude from the corner of his eye. She had drank the coffee he gave them, and Tyki was getting a little satisfaction from winning their bet, since Allen had beaten him humiliatingly that one time on the train.

As Allen sat down next to him, Tyki set his toast down and saw how the two of them were dressed almost exactly alike; the only difference was Tyki was wearing a black tie with his tuxedo. "I suddenly feel the urge to go back and change," Tyki said as he picked up his toast again and averted his gaze from Allen.

Now that all the Noah were finally at the table, the Akuma maids came out to set a "demon-faced" hardboiled egg on an egg stand in front of each Noah, refresh the toast baskets with hot toast and refill Tyki's and the twin's coffee mugs.

The twins were now snickering to each other once they realized Tyki had given Road coffee to torture Allen. They were also laughing because Tyki and Allen were dressed the same; it took very little to amuse Jasdero and David. Curious whether they would want to join Allen to where ever he was traveling today on his mission or not, David asked, "Earl-sama, who is Oto-kun turning into an Akuma today?"

The Earl smiled sweetly at Allen. "You're going to turn that accommodater's sister. What was her name? Krya... No... Tyra... No... " He paused a few more seconds, trying to remember the name. "That's it! Myra! I want to the make her an Akuma. That will be you punishment for yesterday. Hope you enjoy it!" The Earl finished his breakfast. "This time I want a gift since you didn't return with one last time you went to Denmark." The Earl waved as he left the room. "Good luck my child."

"I'll do my best to bring something back," Allen mumbled. His head was still aching, though not quite as badly as when he woke up. He munched on a couple pieces of toast, then laid his head down on the table and closed his eyes. "I'll leave once my head stops hurting."

* * *

Allen sighed as he walked through the ark with an Akuma leading him to the proper door that would take him straight to Myra's room. The Earl had a door he only used when asking someone to create an Akuma, apparently, that allowed him to seemingly appear out of nowhere rather than with the door. It wasn't that he was nervous or scared--the "Allen" that would be upset was long gone. It was more that he didn't want to screw it up and cause the Earl more trouble.

Myra, the girl in question, was sitting in her room, thinking about what her parents told her. They'd said that her sister wouldn't come back, and the idea of being alone made her sad. Since her parents didn't allow her to play with other kids that much, Tyra had been the closest to being a best friend to her. But now that she was gone... _Tyra-onee-chan... You will come back, right? You wouldn't leave Myra alone, would you? Papa and mama are mistaken, aren't they?_

"Hello," Allen said once he'd appeared behind whom he assumed her. He smiled sadly, like he understood why she was upset, but it was just an act. He couldn't have cared less about the girl in front of him. "Would you like me to bring your sister back for you?"

Myra turned around, surprised to see that someone suddenly appear in her room. "Who are you? And can you really bring Tyra-onee-chan back?" she asked, hoping to see her sister again. Maybe the boy was some kind of fairy that granted her wish to see her sister again.

"I'm... an angel here to help you," Allen said. He waved his hand, and an Akuma skeleton appeared. "This doll can bring people back. All you have to do is call out to your sister. Say her name, and she'll return." He smiled. She was falling for it, just like he knew she would.

An angel? Did an angel really come for her? Myra saw the weird skeleton appear and hesitated for a bit. The so-called "doll" looked kind of scary to her, but it was worth trying, and an angel wouldn't lie to her, would he? "She will return if I do that?" Myra stepped forward and closed her eyes. "Tyra-onee-chan!"

The skeleton flashed and started to move. Allen smiled. _Too easy._ "Welcome back, Tyra," he said to the Akuma skeleton. "Kill your dear sister and wear her skin." Allen watched the carnage, watched the girl scream, watched the girl die at the hand of her sister's Akuma, watched the skeleton enter the girl's body.

A single tear rolled down his cheek at the sight of the newly created Akuma. _What's this?_ Allen thought, catching the tear on his fingertip. He stared at it a moment. He hadn't felt sorry for the pitiful creature. The only one who would have felt sorry for the girl and her sister's soul would have been...

_But I got rid of him, _Allen reminded himself._ That "Allen" is gone and never coming back. I must've just got something in my eye._ He turned back to the Earl's transparent door. "Akuma, go and kill everyone in town." And with that, he returned to the Ark.

* * *

Lenalee was staring out the window absently as they road the train out of Denmark. Where was Allen? And wherever he was, did he want to come back? She didn't know the real answers, but she hoped that Allen was close by and that he wanted to return to the Order.

She looked up and noticed Timcanpy bouncing around in panic. "Tim? What's up?"

Timcanpy turned and urgently pointed back to Denmark. He was there! He was back in Denmark!

Lavi lifted his head and gazed at Timcanpy. He rubbed his forehead and said aloud, "Don't tell me he wants us to turn back around..." From the looks of it, Timcanpy did in fact want them to turn around and go back to Denmark. Lavi glanced over at Lenalee, then said, "Do you think we should?"

Kanda stared out the window in silence, attempting to ignore the rapidly, fluttering golem. So far, his attempt to ignore it wasn't working, no thanks to Lenalee and Lavi's concern about the matter. Grumbling under his breath, Kanda said aloud, "Baka Moyashi... he has us running all over Europe." Kanda did not want to go back, obviously, but knowing Lenalee, they would end up turning around. Unfortunately, he couldn't turn her down so easily like everyone else. Not with her crazy, mad-scientist brother.

"We should keep going, Timcanpy," Lenalee told the golem, but the little creature shook his whole body wildly. "There's no way we can catch Allen if we turn around and he leaves before we get there!" Again, Timcanpy shook his whole body. "You think we'll be able to catch him before he runs off again?" Timcanpy nodded. Lenalee knew it was wishful thinking on both their parts, but she at last said, "We're going back. There's a chance we'll be able to catch him."

Kanda grumbled. He knew this was coming. He gazed over at Lenalee without turning his head and said, "...How? The train's not going to stop and turn around just for us." Knowing those two, they would think of something to get off the train, despite Kanda's logic.

"Well...we're just going to have to get off the train our selves." Lavi stood from his seat and walked out into the walkway, signaling Lenalee & Kanda to follow. Lavi led them to the back of the train and out onto the small platform at the end of the caboose. Lavi leaned on the rail and looked out behind them. Over his shoulder he said, "We could get off here, unless either of you has a better idea..." Lavi hoped that they--mostly Lenalee--did.

This wasn't the first time they'd hopped off a train. Before Allen had joined the Order and had the ability to see Akuma, they would jump on the train after it started moving and then jump off before it reached station so as not to be attacked while waiting for the train. This had been "normal" until recently.

Lenalee activated her boots. "We'll get off here," she said.

Lavi nodded, not really wanting to go back. He knew that Allen would be gone once they got there, and apparently so did Lenalee in a way. But like Kanda, he couldn't turn her down either.

Lavi activated his hammer just as Lenalee activated her boots. He set the base flat on the floor of the platform and threw one leg over the handle. Over his shoulder, Lavi looked at Kanda and said, "Climb on, Yuu. We need to get going."

Kanda gave Lavi a death glare with cold, heartless eyes. "Damn baka usagi. There's no way in hell I'm going to get on that thing with you." Even though Kanda didn't want to admit it, he knew Lavi would just drag him on against his will. But his words stood their ground.

Lavi let out an aggravated sigh. "C'mon, Yuu! We don't have time for this! Get on!" he shouted as he grabbed Kanda by the wrist and pulled him over the handle, setting him down behind him. Lavi wrapped Kanda hands around the handle, and said, "Hold on tight, we're going to go pretty fast if we're to get there before Allen leaves, again."

Lavi heard Kanda grumbling to himself, but he paid him no mind. He knew that Kanda saw it coming anyway. With that last thought, the three exorcists took off for Denmark.

They made it to Denmark within the hour, but by the time they got there, Lenalee had the sinking feeling they'd missed Allen again. She held Timcanpy up in the air so he could take off and detect where Allen could possibly be.

Tim did just that and stared around. He couldn't get Allen's signal anywhere nearby. It was as if Allen had vanished, and then... He sung to the east again.

Lavi watched Timcanpy with wide eyes, then slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. _I knew this was going to happen... We all did..._ Lavi sighed and stared at Timcanpy, slightly annoyed. "Tim...you want us to go back now, don't you?"

Timcanpy bobbed his body up and down urgently, then went back to pointing toward the east again.

"Damn golem! We came back for no reason!" Kanda shouted angrily at the golden golem. _That golem will pay for this sooner or later. Why couldn't we just stay on the train...?_ Kanda thought to himself.

After a few moments of thinking, Kanda sighed and glanced over at Lenalee, trying his best not to glare (even though it was hard for him at the moment). "...Should we take another train or try to catch our last one?" Kanda right now would just rather go by foot/air, in case the damn golem had them turn around again.

"We can't go by another train," Lenalee muttered. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her practically empty change purse. "We don't have enough money to even get a ticket." Their only chance was catching up with their old train, and there was no point. It was probably reaching the last stop as they spoke.

"Now what?" she asked miserably. She shouldn't have gone along with Timcanpy. She should've made him stay on the train with them and kept going. This was just as much her fault as Tim's.

Lavi sighed as he bowed his head. There truly was no way that they could catch up with their train in time. Sighing once more, Lavi lifted his head and scratched the back of his neck. "Well, we could follow the train tracks to the next stop, but that'll take awhile... But from how things are going, that seems like our only option..." Lavi blamed Timcanpy (and Lenalee a little) for their current dilemma. With that thought, Lavi glanced over at Timcanpy with a slight glare, with eyes that said, "You caused our troubles."

Timcanpy bowed his head, but then remembered something. He felt around in his mouth for something, then spit out a wad of cash into Lenalee's hand. He'd learned a thing or two from Cross, one of which was how to pickpocket morons. He'd stolen a bit of money from Tyki and the other Noah while they were asleep in their hotel rooms.

Lavi stared blankly at the money Timcanpy had spit out into Lenalee's hand. As much as he wanted to know where he got all that money, he didn't. That would only waste more time. Besides, it didn't matter much. All Lavi knew was that they had money!

Lavi grabbed the damp money and said, "Well... c'mon, we'd better go get us tickets... again. Thanks, Tim." Lavi patted the golem on the top of its head/body with a grin, but his eyes now said, "Don't make us turn around like that ever again."

The three of them paid for their tickets, yet again, and got onto the next train heading toward Russia. They seated themselves, with Lenalee and Lavi sitting next to each other and Kanda sitting alone across from them. "Well...here we are again..."

Kanda gazed at Lavi a moment and said, "...Shut up, Usagi. There was no need for that comment." Kanda moved his eyes away from Lavi and back out the window. He really didn't want to be in this situation again, and the fact that Lavi kept mentioning "again" in nearly everything he said didn't help Kanda's annoyance level any.

* * *

Within the hour, Road's caffeine high finally expired and was feeling great since Tyki actually let her have coffee. When the time came for Allen to go create his Akuma, Road left through her own door within her room. The mission was to be performed by Allen alone, without any assistance, but Road was uncertain that he would bring himself to do it.

Road's door appeared behind the shed of the deceased accommodater's home, and Road stealthily stole into the girl's house, sensing Allen's presence already inside. She found Allen and the girl upstairs in her room and Road peaked through the cracked open door. Road gleefully watched how Allen summoned the skeleton and convinced the girl to call out her sister's name no problem. _He's finally accepted us,_ Road thought joyfully as a tender smile played across her face. However, as she watched Allen as the skeleton Akuma ripped its way into its sister, she noticed how a tear rolled down his cheek. Road sighed apathetically and thought, _I wonder what's bothering Allen-kun..._

As Allen stole away through the Earl's dark gate, Road decided it was time for her to leave as well. She transported herself through her door back to the ark, but not before stopping into a shop to steal a snow globe for the Earl. Her door reappeared in her room and she waltzed out with the souvenir in hand. She went over to her kotatsu with a inkwell pen and paper and wrote a small note in curvy handwriting:

_Allen-kun  
you forgot something  
see you at dinner (that's in 10 minutes)  
3 Road_

Road folded the note twice and then skipped her way over to Allen's room. She set the note down at the foot of Allen's door and then placed the snow globe on top of it, exposing half of the note underneath. She knocked lightly and then quietly ran away, giggling to herself as she pulled her first prank on Allen.

Allen opened the door and rolled his eyes when no one was there_. Must've been the twins,_ he thought, but then looked down and saw the snow globe and note. He picked both up and read the note quickly. _I'll have to thank Road. I completely forgot about that._ He pocketed the piece of paper and walked down to dinner, figuring he'd get there early to give the Earl his souvenir if he was there.

When Allen finally came into the room, Road waved vigorously at him. "Welcome back Allen-kun!" After he sat down next to her, she turned away for a second and then said, "Hey, hey, Allen!" She turned to look at him again with a spoon adorning her nose and her eyes crossed to try and get Allen to laugh.

Allen laughed at Road's silly face.

At the same time, Tyki, Jasdero and David walked into the dinning room. The three of them had spent the afternoon in the piano lounge while they waited for Allen to finish his mission. Tyki had occupied himself by practicing the piano and the twins had simply wrestled with each other. The twins sat across from Allen and Road and snickered a little when they saw Road's face.

"Hey, Oto-kun." David said as he rested his elbows on the table.

"How was your trip?" Jasdero asked as he tried to mimic Road but couldn't get the spoon to stick on his nose right.

As Tyki passed behind Allen on his way to his chair, he messed with Allen's hair with his hand as a kind gesture. When the Akuma came to tell the three of them that it was time for supper, the Akuma had already given them the good news that, "Master Walker had successfully completed his mission." Tyki sat down next to his brother and said to him in a mellow tone, "I hear all went well. Good job Allen."

The Earl walked through the door as well. "Hello my dears! How are you this evening?" He smiled at Allen. "How was your mission Allen Walker?" His grin seemed to get bigger. "I heard some great news... Did you remember to get my present?" He sat down and the Akuma started to serve dinner.

"One at a time!" Allen said with a laugh. "Everything was great, like I was telling them." He held out the snow globe. "Here you go, Earl."

Allen at last sat down. He hoped everyone wouldn't talk to him all at once again. It was hard to keep up with the conversation when they all asked things at once.

The Akuma maids came pouring into the room as they loaded the table with a bountiful seafood banquet of lobsters, crabs, seven kinds of grilled and seared fillet fish and shrimp cooked in ever way possible. As the main dishes and plenty of miscellaneous side dishes made it to the table, one Akuma maid gave a wine glass to each Noah while another filled Tyki's, Lulubelle's and the Earl's glasses with a fine, white wine and another filled Allen's, Road's and the twins' with sparkling cider.

Once the maids vacated the room, Tyki struck his glass with his knife three times lightly to let it ring. He picked up his glass and held it in the air, waiting for everyone else to do the same. "A toast," he announced, "to our new brother, Allen-kun. Not only did he complete his first mission today, but he also has become an irreplaceable part of this family. Kampai!" Tyki lightly clinked his glass with the Earl's and clinked his again with Allen's glass before he took a small sip of his wine.

"Kampai!" the twins said as they roughly knocked their glasses together and then chugged down their cider.

"Kampai," Lulubelle said in her monotone voice as she reached across the table to hit her glass with Road's before sipping her wine as well.

"Kampai, Allen-kun," Road said to him as she turned to him and held her glass to up.

Allen could feel himself blushing furiously. He tapped his glass against Road's, then took a long sip to hide his embarrassment. "I didn't do that much," he said when he'd at last regained his composure. "It wasn't that impressive, was it?" Still, Allen couldn't help but enjoy the attention he was receiving. He'd done something right for once and was receiving praise rather than receiving punishment yet again.

"Besides," he added, "that was supposed to be a punishment, right?" He grinned. He was joking, of course, and everyone else knew it.

"It was a punishment," Tyki said as he filled his plate up with a variety of foods, "but it was also another test of your loyalties. We were a little concerned when you didn't kill that accommodater, which is why we needed to punish you, but now you've created an Akuma instead of destroying one." Tyki took a pause as he lifted a bit of rock lobster tail to his mouth and ate it. After he washed it down with a little wine, Tyki finished with, "If that doesn't prove that you've accepted us, I don't know what would."

"You're one of us Allen!" the twins said to their brother as they started smashing the crab legs that piled high on their plates with small mallets.

"We're proud of you so we wanted to celebrate," Road said as she started eating the three kinds of shrimp that adorned her plate. Road finished her bite before she smiled gleefully at Allen. Out of all the Noah, she, of course, was the happiest that Allen finally accepted that he was a Noah. Now there wouldn't be any more of those turbulent moments between the two of them if Allen messed up or Allen thought he was useless on their side.

Allen piled his plate high with seafood and dug in. Things were going much better without that "Allen" around. That "Allen" just hadn't been cut out for life as a Noah. He smiled as he finished his dinner. Things were much better indeed.

Dinner continued on peacefully with some small chatter between a few of the Noah. When everyone finally finished the very large feast, a lighter dessert of Italian Ice made it to the table. The Noah made the crosses over their forehead, and Jasdero and David said their little prayer to Skin before everyone dug in.

The twins took full spoonfuls of the ice cream, not remembering that Italian Ice had to be eaten in smaller bites. Almost immediately the twins suffered from major brain freezes and were squirming in their chairs while holding their heads. One might think a person would learn from such a painful experience, but not Jasdero and David. As soon as their pain subsided, they took another large spoonful of the ice and again, struggled in pain from their dessert.

After the twins finished their dessert, David said to everyone, "All right, we're off."

As the two of the stood up, Jasdero added with a snicker, "Congrats again, Allen-kun." Then the two Noah walked out of the room, holding their heads with one hand and pointing their pistols at each other with the other hand.

After Tyki finished his coffee, he stood up as well and said to Allen, "I'm going now. It's Texas Hold'em night with my Akuma Card buddies. Feel free to join us, Allen, when and if you get the chance." Tyki patted Allen on the shoulders and left the room, preparing a cigarette for himself to smoke on his way over to his room.

Road shook his head at Tyki as he invited Allen back over to his room for cards again. _After last night, I think Allen needs a break from you,_ Road thought as she watched Tyki leave the room. After the Earl left the room with Lulubelle following behind in her cat form, Road asked Allen, "You wanna continue our reading?"

"Sure," Allen said, standing. He'd been hoping to be able to talk to Road alone. Now that the other "Allen" wasn't there to worry about everything, he could say what he'd wanted to say to Road for a while. He offered his arm to Road. "Shall we?"

Road was a little surprised when Allen offered his arm to her. She nodded. "Yeah..." Road gently placed her hand on his arm to help herself up from her chair and then entwined her arm with his. As the two of them walked, Road's mind was abuzz with thoughts. _Why would he be doing this?_ she asked herself. _Could this mean that...? No, I mean, he hasn't shown any kinds of signs of affection for me... Well... there was that kiss a few days ago... Maybe... just maybe..._ Still doubting her conjectures, Road didn't press the matter and kept those thoughts from flying through her head.

Once they got to Allen's room, Road released Allen's arm and dived onto Allen's bed, bouncing a little and giggling as she did. _Not as good as Tyki's bed,_ she thought as the bed equalized itself from the bouncing, _but close._ She then rolled off of his bed and retrieved the book off Allen's nightstand. As Allen walked over to her at the nightstand, she asked him, "Shall we start where we left off?"

"Where else would we start?" Allen asked. He sat down on his bed and patted the spot next to him.

They read for about an hour or so before Allen felt comfortable enough to talk to Road. He took the book from Road, folded the corner so they'd be able to find their place later, and set the book aside. "Road, I really need to tell you something," he said quietly. "I..." He swallowed hard. He wasn't the other "Allen." He wasn't going to choke. "Road, I'm..." Why wasn't his voice working?

After a few failed starts, Allen at last gave up on telling Road. Actions spoke louder than words, after all. He took Road by the shoulders and kissed her on the lips.

Like when she kissed Allen back on the Ark, Road was rendered tense and wide-eyed out of astonishment, totally amazed that her obsession had made a move on her. His lips pressing against hers relaxed and almost melted Road where she sat as she relaxed, closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck. She tightened her embrace around Allen and pulled herself closer to him, now pressing her lips harder onto his.

The lovers kept their embrace for a minute before Road forced herself to pull away from Allen so she could breath and also speak what was on her mind. She looked down between them, a little embarrassed to say what she wanted to say but finally asked Allen in a lover's croon, "You're not toying with me, are you Allen? Is this real? Do you really...?"

Allen ran his fingers through Road's hair. "Of course this is real," he said, his voice low and seductive. "I love you, Road." He pressed his lips to her neck. "I always will."

Road tilted her head back and sighed in pleasure as she felt Allen's lips against her neck. "I'm not dreaming, then," she said with a smile, not really wanting to ruin the moment by taking the time to laugh at her own joke. She pulled Allen closer again and kissed him again, holding him close to her by his tie. Road then began to slowly lean backwards, pulling Allen with her, until she was lying down with Allen on top of her. Road slid her arms under his and began running her hands up and down his back as their lips were locked together.

The kiss continued until once again, they had to break apart to breathe. Allen lay down on his side next to Road. It was too awkward to be on top of her, especially since he knew they shouldn't go that far. He still remembered how embarrassed she'd been when the Earl cracked a few jokes about that sort of thing earlier.

He didn't know what to say, if anything should be said, so he settled for running his fingers through her hair again. Then he pulled her close to him in a hug. "I love you," he whispered. It was the only thing that came to mind, but he knew it didn't do how he felt justice.

Road smiled at Allen's whisper, hugged him tighter and wrapped her leg around Allen's. She leaned her head forward so her mouth was right in Allen's ear and whispered to him ever so tenderly, "I love you too, before, now, and forever always." She rubbed her cheek against his before pressing her lips to Allen's neck. A few seconds later her kiss to his neck became a soft nibble and she sucked lightly on his neck.

Allen sighed. He was trying so hard not to go too far, and here Road was trying to make it go farther. He wondered briefly if she did want it to go farther, but decided that was just wishful thinking on his part.

"Road," he said seriously, shifting to he could look her in the eye, "how far do you want to go with this? I don't want to do something to make you upset with me again." This was a lot different than the note she'd caught the other "Allen" with, but in the end, it was the same principle to Allen. He didn't want to get Road mad enough to never speak to him again.

Road averted her eyes for a moment as she thought of her answer. If it was the Allen she knew back when he was an exorcist, she would have been very tempted to say all the way. Now, however, she knew that there was something different about Allen, almost like it wasn't the real Allen anymore. Even though Allen now loved her, she wasn't sure she loved Allen that much as he was now. Either way she was rather torn between her love for Allen, his current state and her own values on the matter.

"I..." she started off weakly, "I'd rather we not go all the way." She looked Allen back in the eye and moved her face closer to his and said in a slightly seductive voice, "However... I don't mind going a little farther though... if you're alright with that..."

Allen smiled, then kissed her gently on the lips. "As you wish." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled Road even closer, deepening the kiss.

Road wrapped her arms over his and held on tightly to his shirt as they began to kiss again. Craving more than just a simple kiss, Road parted her lips and reached inside Allen's mouth with her tongue, feeling around for his. The unfamiliar, salty-sweet taste was intoxicating as she continued to intrude into Allen.

Allen's eyes opened for a moment in surprise as Road made out with him, but a warm sensation washed over him and his eyes closed again. He started to move his free hand up and down Road's back and side, massaging her gently.

Road arched her back, leaning more into Allen, as she felt his hand run down her back. She wrapped her one arm lightly around his neck as she wedged her arm between his arm and his body and ran her hand across his lower back.

Road took her arm back from Allen and ran it through his hair before bringing it ever so tenderly down his cheek and neck. She ran her hand down Allen's chest and brought it back up again to his neck. She caught Allen's tie with her index finger and slowly pulled at the knot and untied the black cloth before pulling it off. Road ran her fingers gingerly around his neck before meeting them at the center of his collar, where she began to unbutton his shirt. One by one, she slowly undid each button until his bare chest was finally exposed.

Allen was counting the seconds Road took to unbutton his shirt, dying of anticipation for when he would finally be able to rid himself of the annoying article of clothing. Once he felt the last button come undone, he broke their kiss and sat up on his knees to take the shirt off and leave it hanging off the edge of his bed. Allen crawled back to Road's side, brought their lips back together and went back to kissing her.

Allen continued to slowly run his hand up and down her back, her smooth, curvy figure under her silk top. For a short change of pace and to see how far he could stretch his limits before Road got mad at him, he ran his hand down her side, past her skirt to the exposed skin of her legs. The warm feel of her skin sent a pleasing sensation up Allen's fingers. Fearing to go past Road's limits, he took his hand back from her leg and brought it up to her neck.

Allen pulled gently on her neck, pressing their lips against each other harder for a few seconds before Allen brought his hand down to her shoulder. After leaving it there for a little bit, Allen slid his hand to the middle of Road's collar and, like Road, pulled on her bow tie and removed it from around her neck. Allen slowly started to unbutton the top few buttons. Allen moved his hand over her warm, smooth skin cautiously and gently before bringing his hand back to her neck.

Road's heart was racing as Allen undid her shirt. She was slightly nervous at first as he moved down to the third button but being in Allen's arms settled her beating heart enough to let him go through with it. After Allen finished, Road moved closer so their bodies could finally touch and they could share each other's warmth as they romantically remained in their embrace.

A minute later, Allen broke their kiss for a moment, and they stared deeply into each other's eyes. Allen then brushed aside the collar of her shirt and brought his lips to her shoulder where he first started to kiss it before lightly nibbling and sucking her warm flesh.

Road rolled her head to the side as Allen's mouth ran over her shoulder. Road ran her fingers down his back, the slight pain he gave her was pleasing at the same time. As Allen continued, the pressure of her fingers strengthened to where she was almost clawing at Allen's back

Allen stopped for a moment as he felt Road's nails digging into his back. "Ah, Road," he said in a soft voice that hinted in pain, "could you not claw my back?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Road said in a tone of slight distress as she kissed Allen on the cheek to make the pain go away.

Allen smiled for Road tenderly and brought his lips back up to Road's. They continued to remain enjoying each other's company, lips, and pleasure for at least another hour before both of them collapsed in a euphoria of fatigue, warmth and pleasure and slipped into a deep slumber in each others arms.

* * *

The Noah "Allen" didn't dream. He couldn't. He was just a part of a mind that had been weakened. The Noah couldn't dream unless the other "Allen" dreamed as well. Now that they were separate, the Noah "Allen" wouldn't be able to dream, not that he minded too much. Being with Road was way better than a dream as far as he was concerned.

No, it was the other "Allen," the human exorcist "Allen," that could dream, and now that the two were separate, the Noah had no idea that the real Allen was still there, still dreaming...

The child-like Allen opened his eyes at last. He'd almost died. If Road hadn't stopped the dream, he would have been gone for good.

Allen didn't recognize where he was at first. It wasn't the place with the tree where he'd so often met the other "Allen" lately. This time, he was in a ruin that looked like the Black Order.

_Wait... I know this place..._ He'd seen it so long ago; he'd almost forgotten. This was the place he'd seen on the other side of the lake, the place Lenalee had been crying.

_Lenalee..._ Allen's eyes drooped. _No!_ He had to stay awake. If this really was the place he'd seen Lenalee, maybe he could find her. "Lenalee!" he called. He looked around. "Lenalee! Where are you?"

He thought he saw her, ran toward her, but before he could reach the shadow he knew was Lenalee, everything started dissolving.

"LENALEE!!!"

* * *

As the Noah of Dreams, Road Kamelot was very skillful at controlling her own dreams. In fact, whenever Road closed her eyes to rest, one could hardly call it sleeping since Road was living in her own dream world. Normally she would spend the hours partaking in various activities that ranged from tea parties to brutally murdering the exorcists in her dark, checker board realm, dimly lit with her striped, floating candles.

This night though was different. After her time with Allen she didn't want anything else in the world than to be Allen's arms like she was now. Road was not dreaming or sleeping, but merely resting her eyes as she laid with Allen, feeling the warmth his body radiate and listening to subtle sounds of him breathing as he slept soundly.

Road was perfectly relaxed until she felt Allen shift slightly in his sleep. She blinked her eyes open and gazed over Allen with heavy eyelids as she saw his head move subtly and noticed his lids flickering. _He must be dreaming again,_ she thought to herself as she smiled down at Allen, stroked his hair once, and continued to watch over him tender as she propped herself up with her one elbow and kept her other hand wrapped over Allen.

The moment was perfect to Road until she heard Allen mutter one simple word in his sleep--a name actually. All was well until Allen muttered ever so softly in his sleep, "Lenalee..."

Road at first stared at Allen's sleeping body with the utmost surprise and astonishment, but that gaze soon turned into a dark glare. She pulled out of Allen's embrace and slapped him across his cheek as hard as the superhuman could possibly muster. After the deed was done, Road sat on the edge of Allen's bed and began to button up her shirt again, disgusted, appalled, surprised, angry, disappointed and flustered with Allen all at the same time.

Allen woke with a start. "Ouch!" he cried in surprise. His first instinct was to rub his cheek where she slapped him and to yell at Road for smacking him like that, but then he saw how angry she seemed. _Uh oh..._ "Um... Road? Why'd you slap me?" He tried to sound calm, to not raise his voice when something was obviously bothering her.

Road shot a look at Allen that would have murdered Allen in the worst possible way if looks could kill. She finished buttoning her shirt before she stuttered angrily, "Y-you... I-I... he-r... you..." Road couldn't find the words to express how angry she was with him for dreaming of the former exorcist. Unable to find the words, she let out a sigh, like a dragon letting steam out its nostril before it prepared to breath a stream of fire, and grumbled as she looked away from Allen, "You were having a nightmare."

Road reached over for her bow tie and began tying it around her neck, looking away from Allen as she fumed silently to herself.

Allen could tell by how Road said it that she wasn't telling him everything. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and whispered gently, "What did I do to make you so upset, Road?"

Not only was Road in no mood to forgive Allen yet, but it disgusted her that Allen would dare dream of that floozy of an exorcist and then turn around and go back to her like he did nothing wrong. Road broke out of Allen's embraced, wheeled around and slapped him on the cheek in the exact same spot that she'd hit him before. She the pivoted on her heel with her nose held high and stormed out of his room, slamming the double doors on the way out.

Once out of the room, her anger developed into a deep depression, and she went running back to her own room, crying. They had done everything for him: given him a room a hundred times better than his at the Order, fed him wonderful food, cared for him in his sickly state, bought him nice clothes, spent quality time with him... Yet, he was still thinking of his former life; Road just couldn't take it. Once she was in her room, she dove onto her bed and buried her face into her pillow and sobbed herself back into her state of "sleep."

* * *

Back in his room, Allen touched his cheek and winced. He could have dodged, he really could have, but he figured it was better to let Road let her anger out. He really had no idea what he'd done. None whatsoever.

"I'll have to talk to her in the morning," Allen mumbled to himself. There was no way he'd get a straight answer if he asked her what was bothering her now. He'd probably just get slapped again if he tried anything tonight. Sighing, he wrapped himself in his blankets again and fell fast asleep.

* * *

_"Lenalee!"_

Lenalee sat up and rubbed her eyes blearily. She'd almost fallen asleep when she was supposed to be keeping watch for Akuma on the train. Someone calling her name had woken her up, possibly Lavi or Kanda to switch "shifts." Yet, the voice hadn't sounded like either of theirs. It was definitely familiar, but she couldn't understand why. It was a child's voice; she only knew a few children, and none of them sounded like that...

"Lavi? Kanda? Did one of you call for me?" she asked, then realized both exorcists were asleep. She shook Lavi's shoulder, as it was his turn to keep watch. Once she was sure the redhead was awake, she leaned her head against the window. _I was probably just dreaming it, she thought, closing her eyes. It probably wasn't important._

Lavi rubbed his eyes after Lenalee stopped shaking him. Unfortunately, this meant that it was his turn to keep watch. Yawning, Lavi sat up straight and crossed his arms. He looked out the window from his isle seat, realizing that it was still dark out. _Must be pretty late..._ the young Bookman thought with another yawn.

Lavi then turned the Lenalee. It seemed that something was troubling her. _She's just worried about Allen. That's nothing new... Still, I could've sworn I heard her ask Yuu and me something..._

Lavi rested his hand on Lenalee's shoulder gently, looking down at her with a sorrowful smile. _I should ask her...just in case. But she seems so exhausted. I can't blame her though; worrying about Allen hasn't done any good for her, looking at her now._ Lavi then took his hand off her shoulder carefully and crossed his arms once more as he looked back out the window.

* * *

Notes (rants?) from Sailorstar165:

Woohoo! Another chapter! Thank you Twilight for the romance scene between Road and Allen! ...AND NOTHING LIKE THAT HAPPENED BETWEEN THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mind out of gutter, people. XD

As always, check out the other fics on the account or check out Your-Role by clicking our homepage. :) Again, we're up-to-date, so updates may be few and far between. ...Not that this one took all that long... Hmmm... Well, thanks for reading and listening to me talk. XD


	13. Breakfast

The next morning, Tyki woke up later than he had for the past few days, about 10 o'clock in the morning. Well-rested Tyki sat up and sighed contentedly as he rubbed his sleepy eyes and stretched. He threw the covers off and went to his closet to look for which tux to wear. Finding a long coat tux that he hadn't worn for a while, a nicely folded and not-faded shade of black. As he prepared himself for the day he thought, _Hmmm... I wonder how Allen is doing. The last time I saw him was after dinner with Road... alone... in a large, empty floating city... where they could get away with all sorts of miscellaneous things..._ Tyki sighed at the thought and said to himself as he put on his tux coat, "I better go see what him and Road are up to."

He began his search at Allen's room, assuming it would be best to check there first since that's where they had been spending most of their time recently. Tyki walked up to Allen's room and knocked before he let himself in. As much as he wouldn't want to see either of them doing something naughty, he'd rather catch them in the act than giving them time to hide their actions. As Tyki opened the door, he was a little surprised to only see Allen in the room. Thinking that Road might have been hiding somewhere, Tyki walked over to the foot of Allen's bed and said, "Allen-kun, you going to wake up for the day? It's almost noon."

"I'm up, I'm up," Allen muttered sleepily. He sat up and yawned. "Morning, Tyki."

Allen had almost completely forgotten about the events the night before. He was still half-asleep and what had happened wasn't the first thing on his mind; breakfast was.

As Allen sat up, Tyki was surprised and a little concerned when he saw the reddish bruise on Allen's face. Tyki pointed at Allen's face and asked, "Oye Allen, what happened to you? You have a huge bruise on your face."

Allen was confused at first and thus touched where Tyki was pointing, which he had to admit was a stupid idea and dropped his hand when he winced. Road could hit really hard! "You don't want to know," he said, hoping that would be enough for Tyki.

Tyki eyed Allen suspiciously, now knowing there was a story behind it. Tyki noted how the bruise was a little smaller than an open palm. Tyki also noted how there was another black and blue bruise on his neck that looked like someone bit him. Tyki smirked mischievously as it all clicked in his head. He sat down on the edge of Allen's, still smirking, and said, "No, I think I really wanna know."

"I don't want to talk about it," Allen said sheepishly. He slapped a hand over the bruise on his neck when he noticed Tyki looking at it. "It's not that important, anyway."

Tyki continued to smile mischievously as Allen's actions told him exactly what Allen had done last night. Even if his embarrassment explained the hickey on his neck, it didn't explain the bruise on his face. To further provoke him to talk, Tyki felt the dying urge to mess with Allen. "So Allen," he said, barely holding in his laughter, "how was she?"

Allen wasn't sure what he was expecting Tyki to ask, but it definitely wasn't that. "N-nothing happened!" Allen shouted. "N-nothing like that!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth did Allen want to take them back. He'd pretty much confirmed that something had happened between him and Road, even if it wasn't what Tyki was thinking. To stop the other Noah from exercising his imagination, Allen added, "Road got mad at me and slapped me last night. That's all."

After receiving a satisfactory answer, Tyki finally stopped giving Allen the mischievous look and stood. "Well c'mon Allen. Let's get some breakfast." Tyki left the room for Allen to change, and he waited patiently, leaning on a wall in the hallway as Allen changed.

Once Allen emerged, the two walked down to the dining room together. When they arrived, they found the twins already sitting at the table messing with each other, but no one else. Tyki was a little worried about Road after Allen told him that she had gotten mad at him, and Tyki wanted to check up on her. Tyki then said, "Oye, Allen I'm going to go wake Road up. Just wait here and tell the Earl I'm getting Road if he shows up wondering where we're at." With that, Tyki left Allen at the mercy of the twins.

As Allen sat down, Jasdero and David both waved at him and said simultaneously. "Ohayo, Allen-kun!!" They then noticed the two different bruises on Allen and looked at him curiously and a little concerned. They leaned in closer to get a better look before they both asked him, "Hey, Allen, what happened to you?"

_And the conversation repeats itself..._ Allen thought with a sigh. "You don't want to know."

The two of them looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions but soon realized Allen was hiding something from them. David smiled while Jasdero snickered to himself. The two turned back to Allen and Jasdero said, "No, no, Allen-kun we wanna know." coupled with another snicker.

As David has turned back to Allen, he examined the one bruise on his neck and recognized the mark. He put his elbows on the table, propped his head up with one fist and then said, "No, Jasdero, I think we already know. So Allen, Was she any fun?"

Allen's eyes widened at David's train of thought. "YOU HAVE IT ALL WRONG!!!!" he cried, slapping a hand over the subject of the twins' interests. "Nothing happened except that Road got mad at me and slapped me, all right? What is with you people!?"

As the twins were chuckling after Allen's reaction, Tyki returned to the dinning room with Road at his side. Road's eyes were bloodshot and she was looking a little depressed with a hint of anger. Of course Tyki had asked Road what was wrong when he went to fetch her, but she wouldn't tell him the problem. Knowing that Allen was behind this, there were now two people not too happy with him.

Tyki sat Road down to the right of Allen while he sat on the other side of him. Tyki looked over at Allen as he sat down, and mumbled to him so Road wouldn't hear, "Some time later, you should apologize to her."

Allen nodded briefly to Tyki to show he understood, before risking a glance at Road. She looked really upset, and not for the first time did he really wish he knew what he'd done to maker her so upset with him.

There was an awkward air between them as they sat close to each other. Road did the best she could to ignore him as she grabbed a slice of toast and started spreading grape jelly on it. She was still very upset with Allen for thinking about Lenalee and was going to torture Allen mentally, without the aid of her abilities, as much as she possibly could before she would even consider forgiving him.

Allen couldn't take the silence anymore. "Good morning," Allen said quietly to Road.

Road said nothing as Allen greeted her, in fact, she didn't even look his way. At that point the main breakfast came out, which consisted of stacks of pancakes and fruit toppings. When the food reached the table, Road grabbed three pancakes and drizzled them with the strawberry syrup.

Just then, the Earl walked into the dining room. Once he'd sat in his usual chair, he asked his children, "How did you sleep my dears...?" That was when he noticed Allen with bruises on his neck and face, and Road looking tired and upset. "Did something happen between those two?" the Earl asked Tyki.

Tyki looked from Road and Allen to the Earl, twice, as he tried to figure out how he wanted to answer the Earl's question. Finally Tyki said, "It's a long story Earl-sama. Nothing too bad happened between them, but this is something that they need to work out themselves." With that, Tyki began to pile his plate as well.

Allen was almost too bothered by Road's ignoring him to eat. Almost. He took some pancakes, blueberries, and blueberry syrup, and took a few bites. He almost dropped his fork when the Earl asked what had happened between them, but caught it again before it fell too far from his hand. He shoveled food into his mouth to keep the Earl from asking any questions of him as well, but he soon ran out of food on his plate. _I knew I should've taken the fifth pancake,_ he thought as he busied himself with taking more pancakes and fruit.

The Earl glanced from Allen to Road and back. Something was going on. "Road my dear, what is the matter? I can't have my children upset." He watched Allen try to keep himself busy to avoid questioning. The Earl smiled at him.

The Earl had caught Road in mid-bite when he questioned her. She sat there for a moment, biting down on her fork before she slowly pulled it out of her mouth and set it down gently. She then took her napkin and patted her mouth to rid her lips of the sticky syrup all serious-like before she turned to the Earl with the sweetest smile ever and her eyes gleefully shut before she said, "There's absolutely nothing wrong Earl-sama. Why would you ever think something like that?"

The Earl raised his eyebrow. "Oh, because you are sitting away from Allen and avoiding him, it seems, and he has bruises on his neck and face." He turned to Allen. "Whatever happen between you two?" The Earl was getting worried.

Allen almost choked on the pancake he'd just shoved into his mouth. He took a big gulp of milk before saying, "I-I honestly don't know what's going on. Road got mad and slapped me."

"Because Oto-kun tried to get into Road's skirt," David added under his breath, not meaning for that statement to go unnoticed. Jasdero started sniggering to himself as he heard his twin's joke.

Where the twins found that statement to be hilarious, Road did not. She stood up and slammed her hands on the table and shot both of them a cold glare. Feeling it would be best not to explode at them, Road stated calmly, "Excuse me," and left the room.

After Road lefty the room, Tyki also shot a cold glare at the twins and said to them, "That was rather uncalled for." He looked over at Allen, who also seemed rather embarrassed about the twins' comment. Tyki took a sip of his coffee before he muttered to Allen, "Now would probably be a good time to try and apologize."

Allen took Tyki's advice and rushed out of the room. "Road!" he called. When Road ignored him and kept walking, he grabbed her hand and forced her to stop. "Look, I don't know what I did to upset you or what I can do to make it up to you, but I'm sorry." He wasn't sure if she was even listening to him, but he had to take this chance to talk to her while he had her to himself like this. "I still love you. Can you forgive me?"

Road was still fuming at this point. Although Allen's words did actually reach her, she was in no mood to forgive him yet. She yanked her hand out of his grasp and held a finger up to his lips to get him to stop talking. "Not yet," Road said in an irritated tone. "I'm still mad at you." With that, she simply pivoted on her heels and walked away from Allen and headed back to her own room.

Not long after, Tyki came up behind Allen, who was still dumb-founded. "Well, that could have gone better," Tyki commented as he stood next to Allen and watched Road leave, "but then again, it could have been worse." Tyki looked down at Allen, who seemed rather lost. Tyki set a hand on his shoulder and said, "That's the thing about women: you have to give them time. She knows you're sorry, but you have to let her stop being mad."

Tyki turned away, but stopped to say, "Oh, by the way, we have another assignment from the Earl. General Tiedoll has been spotted. We're to intercept and kill him. We'll leave in fifteen minutes, so get ready. I'll fetch the twins, Lulubelle, and Road." With the Earl's orders delivered, Tyki went off to his own room to gather his things together for the trip.

All Allen really wanted to do was go to his room and sulk. Road was still mad at him, and there was nothing he could do about it, especially since he had no idea what he'd done. He just wanted to try and figure out what he'd done and get Road to forgive him. Still, missions came first. Allen went to get ready for the mission.

* * *

Kanda inwardly grumbled as the insistent beeping of his golem roused him from his light slumber. He'd already been woken once by Lenalee and Lavi's small exchange, though they hadn't seemed to notice, and he was rather annoyed with the machine that intruded on his slumber once again.

With a sigh, he grabbed the golem out of his pocket and moved to leave the compartment. The beeping could barely be head over the sounds of the train, but whatever conversation that inevitably occurred wouldn't be so easily muffled. Once he reached a more private area, he answered the call.

"What? This had better be good," he all but snarled. He was tired damn it and whatever crap whoever called him wanted, it could certainly wait.

He was quite surprised though when it was Komui's voice on the other end, not Lvellie's. After moments of listening, his insides twisted and his hands clenched into firsts. Did Komui have any idea what he was asking him to do?! Cursing, he agreed to his new task and stuffed his golem back into his pocket.

Tiedoll. Of _all_ things, it had to be Tiedoll. Great. He'd gone from following two idiots to the biggest of them all...

* * *

The light was filtering through the train's window, waking Lenalee as it splashed across her face. She rubbed her eyes, then glanced at Kanda as he returned to their compartment. He was again in one of his moods. "Kanda? What's wrong?"

It wasn't hard to figure out, though. Few things got Kanda this mad, and it was just a matter of ruling out the possibilities. Akuma and Noah couldn't be the reason for his mood, since Kanda obviously wasn't any more injured than he'd been earlier. Allen wasn't a possibility either, since he was with the Noah and Kanda was obviously not more injured from a run in with them. Lavi had nodded off while he was supposed to keep watch, so that ruled out Kanda being called "Yuu-chan." That left one thing:

"Does this involve Tiedoll?" Even though he knew it was coming, Kanda still couldn't control the habitual eye-twitch that seemed to happen whenever he heard that name.

"I've been reassigned. Apparently there's a possibility the Earl has targeted General Tiedoll much like he did with General Yeegar. Once the train arrives at station, I'll be heading to wherever he is. Lucky for me, intelligence thinks he's in the general area, so I'll be leaving immediately." Not that he really wanted to though; the man was a giant pain in the rear.

"If the Earl's after General Tiedoll, then the Noah will probably be doing the dirty work," Lenalee concluded. "We'll come too. You'll need help, and we'll probably find Allen."

"Are you sure about that? Aren't you better off following Tim who has an idea of where the Moyashi is, then hoping that the Noah will come to us? For all we know, they're just planning to send Akuma. Besides that, I don't need your help."

As much as he wished, Kanda knew that Lenalee was set on this new decision. Regardless, he refused to be civil about the matter. Knowing that he had to travel with Tiedoll again was enough of a headache. Add on a Baka Usagi and Lenalee's endless babble about the cursed brat and Kanda was sure to be in his own living Hell.

"They'd never send an Akuma to take on the General," Lenalee stated firmly. "They would send a Noah to destroy the Innocence he has with him. They're still searching for the Heart, remember?"

Lavi had woken up shortly after he heard Kanda leave their compartment. However, he'd shown no signs being awake. He just sat back in his comfortable position with his arms crossed and listened to his fellow exorcists talk with one another.

"She's got a point there, Yuu, " the Bookman junior said without a moment's hesitation. Lavi opened his eyes slowly and then glanced over at Kanda. "The Earl wouldn't send Akuma after a general. Rather, they would send the Noah. Odds are that Allen will probably be one of the Noah on that mission."

Lavi sat up straight and stretched his arms high above his head. With a heavy sigh, he then dropped them to his side. "We have a better chance of reaching Allen again if we go with you, Yuu. Don't you think so, Lenalee?" Knowing Kanda, he would've said no to Lavi right off the bat. But he wouldn't dare to go against Lenalee's wishes.

Lenalee nodded in agreement. Kanda couldn't refuse both of them, could he?

_Damn._ Kanda had known when he said it that the odds were slim to none that they would believe that only Akuma might go. But he tried, didn't he?

"Che, fine. Just do yourself a favor and stay out of my way." With that he turned to look out the window. They had got what they wanted so they had better not bother him with details, though in the back of his mind he knew that that was probably not going to happen.

* * *

Comments from Sailorstar165:

Sorry for the lack of updates! The RP's been a little slow lately, so I haven't been able to format anything. Anywho, thanks for reading and hope you check out Your-Role!

Oh, and by the way, love4Sora has relinquished the role of Kanda to KeeperoftheJeep.


	14. Battle in the Forest

"Where's Tiedoll supposed to be?" Lenalee asked. They'd reached the area Tiedoll was reported to be, but finding a general in such a big place was like finding a needle in a haystack. She hoped to God Kanda had a better idea than she did at the moment. She didn't want to have to search for a general yet again. Cross was more than enough general searching for her.

Kanda had to suppress a small laugh. Tiedoll was never where he was "supposed to be." Usually, he ended up wandering away on some artistic whim. If they thought Cross was hard to find, they'd obviously never tried to find Tiedoll when he went on one of his 'artistic journeys.' At least Cross was nice enough to leave a trail of debt in his wake.

"Che, follow me. I'd bet almost anything that he moved to a more 'artistic' area. Most likely he's moved to the outskirts of town to do an oil painting or something like that."

Lavi nodded as he and Lenalee began to follow Kanda. "I don't know General Tiedoll well, so I'll take your word for it, Yuu," he said. Lavi clasped his hands behind his head and leaned back slightly as he walked. Lavi wasn't quite sure what to expect from all this. The Noah were bound to come, and that fact alone made him wonder_: Will Allen betray them again, or will be betray us?_ Lavi couldn't say; what Allen did back in Normandy was a bit of a surprise to him, and a good one at that... sort of.

"Say," Lavi began, "do you think the Noah are already here? They can travel around faster than we can with their Ark."

"Lavi, you're a genius!" Lenalee said, grinning. Lavi stared at her blankly, not quite understanding until she turned to Timcanpy. "Tim, is Allen nearby? Can you find him?"

Timcanpy nodded and turned this way and that, trying to locate Allen. Once he'd located his owner, he stopped and pointed urgently in that direction.

"He's this way! Come on!"

* * *

The six Noah stepped out of the Ark's gateway as it opened into the Black Forest of Germany. Tyki pulled out the playing card that the Earl had given him with the coordinates of the General's location and read over it once again. "All right, we're in the right area," he announced as he slipped the card back into his day coat. "Keep a sharp eye out."

"Akuma," Lulubelle called out in a monotone voice. At her command, the mass horde of Level Three Akuma assigned to them for the mission swarmed out of the Ark's gate and floated around, awaiting their orders. "Spread out and find the General. Contact us when you've found him." The Akuma then scattered and began their search for Tiedoll.

Allen watched silently as the Akuma spread out to search for Tiedoll, but he was uninterested in their movements. He was more worried about Road, who hadn't spoken to him at all since he'd confronted her after breakfast. Sighing, he sat down on a fallen log to await the Akuma's return.

The Noah waited around the drop off site for a few minutes for any of the Akuma to return with news. However, as the minutes dragged on, Tyki was getting restless and impatient just sitting around. "C'mon guys," Tyki said to the group. "Let's move."

"Awww... Really?" the twins cried in unison, halfway up a tree. While they were all waiting around, the twins decided to occupy themselves by chasing after a squirrel they had spotted once they emerged from the Ark.

"The General is probably on the move, and we can't afford to just sit here if by chance the Akuma don't spot him," Tyki explained.

The Noah agreed, even though they really didn't all want to move. The twins climbed down from their tree, Lulubell put away her nail file, and Road jumped down from the low tree branch she was perched on while they were waiting. Road ran up to Tyki and jumped onto his back, expecting a piggyback ride, all the while giggling like nothing was wrong.

Normally, Tyki would object to such a thing, but he wanted to talk to Road about her little bout with Allen. He wrapped his arms under her knees and began walking east, leading the others toward where he thought the General was. _All right, Road, tell me_, he thought, knowing that she could hear his thoughts, _what's this all about between you and Allen?_

Road turned her head to the side as an objection to say or think anything back. However, she eventually ended up thinking back, _He's still thinking of them Tickie. He said the girl's name in his sleep..._

_The Heart girl?_ Tyki thought again. _He's a Noah now. How do you know he wasn't killing her in his sleep?_

_He wasn't doing that_, she thought bitterly. _I could tell._

_Did you check?_ Tyki thought as he looked over his shoulder at her, giving her a look that showed he didn't believe her.

There was a long pause in their mental conversation before Road finally thought, feeling rather dumb that she didn't check in the first place, _...No..._

_See? You can't just assume,_ Tyki lectured her. _Hear him out later and then decided if it's worth your while to stay mad. He is worried about you, you know?_ He glanced inconspicuously over at Allen, as did Road.

Allen followed the other Noah silently. He was still a little depressed about the whole thing with Road. He didn't even know what he did! Why should he be being punished for it? The irritation soon vanished and the depression came back even stronger. He sighed. _This sucks,_ he thought miserably.

Time went on as the Noah traveled whatever path Tyki could make out in search of Tiedoll. It wasn't until a while later that Road picked up a distress signal from the Akuma telepathically, northeast of their current location. "Tickie," Road said seriously, loud enough for the others to hear as well, "the Akuma found the General."

Tyki looked behind him at Road to make a comment but caught a golden glint amongst the trees. Not too far off, he spotted three black uniforms heading their way. "That's not all we found," Tyki commented as he stopped in his tracks and let Road down off from his back. "Road, Lulubelle," Tyki said, tightening his gloves, readying himself for a fight, "go on ahead and intercept the General. The four of us will keep the Exorcists busy."

Road glared at the approaching Exorcists as she herself was geared to fight them. She knew the general came first, though. "Fine," Road said reluctantly. "We'll meet up later." Road summoned her door the two female Noah left the scene to follow the trail of the distress signal.

The twins ceased pointing their guns at each others' heads and pointed them at their approaching targets and said in unison, "Let's have some fun, Tickie, Allen."

"Agreed," Tyki said darkly before he snapped his fingers and a large swarm of Tease melded from his hand and encircled the Noah. "Tease," he commanded the dark butterflies, "obliterate them." Tyki snapped his fingers yet again and the swarm charged the Exorcists, the mass horde of Tease engulfing the trees and foliage in its path.

Allen activated his reversed Crowned Clown and waited. If the exorcists survived the swarm of Tease, he'd be ready to fight.

* * *

Lenalee was the first to spot the dark mass heading toward them. "We've got company!" she shouted, activating her Innocence. "Get ready!"

Lavi quickly turned toward the mass hoard of Tease coming toward them. _How didn't we see this coming?_ he thought in aggravation as he activated his Innocence. _But that doesn't matter now._ He raised his hammer high into the sky. The many seals surrounded his hammer and began to revolve around it. _Level Two Release_. Lavi stamped his hammer against the fire seal, Hammer of Fire, and then stomped it hard on the ground, saying inside his head, _Hell-fire_.

A vortex of fire surrounded the three exorcists, bursting any Tease that would dare to pass through to the fiery wall into flames. As usual, it didn't take long before the hellish flames diminished into nothing. There were less Tease than before, but there were still quite a lot continuing to come at them.

Trying to look past the hoard of Tease, Lavi saw Tyki, Jasdero, and Allen. For the first time, Lavi wasn't surprised to see Allen siding with the Noah. Nor was he surprised to see that Allen looked as if he would lunge himself at them if any of them dared to approach him and his Noah comrades. What did surprise Lavi was the sight of Allen's Innocence. _...Is that his Innocence? It looks...different, like in a demonic way..._

As soon as Lavi's fire faded and Lenalee could see Allen, she shot like a bullet toward him. "Allen!" she shouted, but stopped. There was something different about him... Something... evil. "Allen?"

Kanda heard Lenalee's exclamation before he saw anything. Tyki's Tease were surrounding them but Lavi was quick to burn them with the flames from his hammer. Across the field were the Noah, only four from what he could see. Tyki Mikk, David, Jasdero, and... Was that Allen? No it couldn't be, the arm was too different. For a moment, Kanda thought back to the Akuma he and Allen had faced on their first mission together. Maybe it was a shape shifting Akuma trying to throw them off. But the way Timcanpy fluttered around snuffed the thought. It really was the Moyashi.

"Hello, exorcists," Allen said, lifting his claw. "Happy to see me?"

Lenalee flinched. His voice was so cold... so empty... . And his innocence...it wasn't the same. Like it had been reversed almost...like it had evolved. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. "Allen, your Innocence... What happened?"

Lavi was speechless; his best friend Allen seemed so... heartless. The sound of his voice as if it was nothing but pure hatred for them. So evil, so calm. It put Lavi in a daze; he wasn't sure what to think of his friend. All he knew was that Lavi, along with the entire Black Order, had most likely lost Allen to the Noah.

Lavi finally shook his head some, managing to pull himself together and out of the trance he was in. "Allen..." Lavi muttered, "it's only been a few days, and yet, you're so... different..."

"Bean Sprout, what the Hell happened to you?" Kanda didn't care; he just needed to know.

"Haven't you been paying attention," Tyki said as he snapped his fingers again. The remaining Tease regrouped around their master and then thrust themselves in a pillar of mass at Kanda, flinging him back thirty meters into the trunk of a large tree. As the tease scattered, Tyki explained, "He's a Noah now. No longer one you. No longer possessing his old powers."

A new swarm of skull Tease melded from Tyki's body and mixed with the ranks of the black Tease fluttering about the area between and around Tyki and Kanda. Two other Tease melded from his hands and converted their bodies into white energy, forming Tyki's white cross blades over his wrists. "Come now," Tyki said with a demonic look in his eyes, "we have yet to settle our little duel."

The twins, meanwhile, called out in unison, "Baka. We told you last time. His Innocence isn't God's crystal anymore." The two seemed to disappear and then reappear in front of the hammer-wielding exorcist while pointing their pistols at him. "It's now Red Innocence," they said before a colored bullet materialized in the gun chambers. "Red Bomb!!!" they cried out as they fired a large fire ball at Lavi.

Lavi's eyes widened as the twins pulled the triggers of their guns. He quickly jumped out of the way of the "red bomb," just barely dodging it. Panting, Lavi stood up straight and looked over in Kanda's direction, then Lenalee's_. Allen's going to fight Lenalee... I wonder if she'll really be able to fight back,_ he wondered as he glanced back at his own threat. As much as Lavi would've loved to go after Lenalee and fight by her side against their friend, he couldn't with the twins shooting bombs at him.

"Two against one, huh?" Lavi muttered. "Seems a little unfair, don't you think?" Lavi smirked as he gripped the handle of his hammer tightly, and made sure that his feet were planted firmly on the ground. He raised his hammer high and shouted, "Hiban!" right before he brought it right back down to the ground, forming a dragon of fire that lunged right for the twins.

Allen smiled. He would have answered his former "friends," but his family had done it for him. "It seems your friends and my family are already busy." He bowed mockingly to Lenalee. "Shall we?" He didn't wait for an answer. He launched at Lenalee and swung his claws at her.

Lenalee barely dodged. "Allen, I don't want to fight you," she said, backing away another step to avoid another swing.

"What, you still believe we're friends?" he asked, halting his attack to look over Lenalee in mild amusement. "You're pathetic, to think that. I've already moved on," he readied his attack again, "so why can't you?" He swung his claw at her again, this time catching her coat with the claw and tearing the fabric over her stomach.

Lenalee let out a small gasp of surprise. He really meant to kill her. Allen _wanted_ to kill her. She had no choice now; she had to fight. She dodged his next swing and kicked out. Allen was sent flying. Apparently, he hadn't expected her to fight back. "Allen, I don't want to fight you," she repeated, "but I will if I must."

Allen wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He'd bitten his lip when he was hit and was bleeding a bit. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Exorcist."

* * *

Kanda hadn't been paying attention to the Noah of Pleasure, which proved to be a mistake. Pain assaulted the swordsman's senses as a horde of Tease smashed into his chest, sending him into a nearby tree. Cursing at being caught off guard, Kanda pushed himself back to his feet, glaring at the Noah through the man-eating golems. He then paused to watch the remaining tease swarm to form the Skulls.

Reaching over his side Kanda felt a surge of adrenaline as he withdrew Mugen from its sheath. "Mugen, Hatsudou..." he murmured, running his fingers against the steel blade, his Innocence responding to its master. He grinned when he looked at the Noah again. Apparently Tyki didn't plan on beating around the bush either and already had formed his power into the strange crosses. Kanda wasted no time activating his Second Illusion: Twin Blades, just to be fair. Pissed that he Noah had made the first move, Kanda struck.

"Eight Flower Praying Mantis!"

Tyki readied himself as the sword-wielding exorcist came charging at him with a trick up his sleeve. Tyki blocked Kanda's attack with a degree of difficulty. Although Tyki was fast, one of Kanda's strikes slipped past Tyki's cross blades and cut a gash on his arm and clipped his chest, slicing through his tuxedo coat like tissue paper. Tyki melded into the ground to avoid another barrage from the exorcist as he assessed his wound.

Tyki melded out from the ground again behind Kanda, a safe distance away. "You've gotten faster Katana-kun," Tyki said as he looked over his wounded shoulder at the exorcist. "But you're alone in this fight. Meanwhile, I have back up." As if the Tease knew what their master was saying, they began swarming in a circle around the two of them, creating a blurry barrier between them and the outside world. "Tease," Tyki commanded as he snapped his fingers. The Tease stopped moving, and the skull Tease charged their lasers. "I know you can cut my Tease if they swarm in front of you," Tyki said as he turned to face Kanda, "but what happens when they keep their distance?" Tyki snapped his fingers once more and the Skull tease simultaneously fired their lasers at the exorcist.

* * *

"Uh oh." the twins muttered in unison as the fire serpent came careening towards them. They had hardly any time to react and before they could, the serpent engulfed them. As the fire died away, the twins were left standing, charred and burned whilst simmering in a slight rage.

"Two against one you say? Unfair you say?" David said as he stood as straight as he could with the sheer amount of burns on him.

"Well, let's even the odds for you. Hee hee," Jasdero said with a snicker as he stood next to his brother. The two of them pointed their guns at one another and fired their pistols. Their bodies remained in a freeze frame fall as their shadows swirled together in a dark vortex. From the vortex, a figure began to form as if the vortex was being stretched from the ground to create a three-dimensional figure. The stretching black shadow then faded into long, flowing yellow hair as it parted from the body in the center of the mass off hair.

Jasdevi flipped his hair back so it was out of his face and glared at the exorcist in front of him. "How's this?" Jasdevi said in an echoed voice. "Does this better suit you?" Jasdevi simply raised his arm and held his hand out towards the exorcist as a purple star five feet in diameter formed over his palm, which then shot forward and crashed into the exorcist, sending him flying.

Lavi had no time to think; before he knew it, Jasdevi had sent him back flying, crashing hard into a tree far away from where he was originally standing. _Damn,_ Lavi thought as he weakly brought himself back to his feet, _I didn't even think about them combining like that..._

Managing to stand up straight, Lavi glared at the conjoined twins in the distance. All around them there was fire, burning the trees every second. _That probably wasn't the best idea..._ Lavi looked up at the sky and let out a steady breath. Once again, he lifted his hammer high into the air, allowing all the seals to rotate around it. "Tenchi Bankai, Moku-ban" Lavi whispered under his breath. High above the earth, dark clouds began to form, and then rain began to fall from the now dark and gloomy sky.

As the rain fell, the elemental seals continued to spin all around Lavi, until he pounded his hammer down against on one--a seal with a question mark on it that changed into a new seal for him to use. Mumbling quietly to himself, Lavi said, "Umi Kanri." Suddenly, the pouring rain froze all around Lavi, and then began to merge together into one large wall of water in front of him. Once the water wall was ten feet or so high, Lavi added, "Mizu-ban," as he thrust his hammer forward, toward Jasdevi. With that, the water blockade rapidly made its way toward Jasdevi.

Now, Lavi quickly shouted in a louder, more confident tone, "Raitei Kaiten, Ten-ban!" Lavi smacked his hammer hard on the ground in front of him, sending a large bolt of lightning directly at the conjoined twins. Of course, the lightning had just reached the large water blockade once the twins were hit by the rapid wave.

* * *

Allen charged again, this time focusing rather than swinging wildly. A few well-aimed swings were better than powerful-but-inaccurate ones. After all, it would only take one good shot at her heart to kill her, regardless of the power behind it.

Lenalee noticed Allen's change in tactics and changed hers to match. She'd have to dodge fewer blows, but they would be harder to avoid and block. Now Allen wasn't just threatening her with the claw. Now he was serious.

Allen swung again; Lenalee parried. Lenalee kicked; Allen dodged. It was a deadly dance with neither leading nor following. Neither could win--they knew each others attacks too well. The battle was all about who would tire first, and it seemed, for a moment, that Lenalee would be the victor.

"Damn Exorcist," Allen panted to himself. She wasn't tiring. It wasn't that she was stronger; it was that he'd wasted so much energy in the beginning with his wild swings.

"Do you give up?" Lenalee asked, not dropping her guard.

"Not in your life," Allen said, grabbing his claw arm with his other hand.

Lenalee danced back even before he'd had a chance to activate the sword. Allen's Innocence had changed. The sword, which once purified evil, might now be lethal. She stood, ready for anything.

Allen's eyes narrowed to slits. His Innocence refused to transform into the blade. _Do it, damn it! I'm your master!_ But the Innocence didn't obey. He glared at the red cross, then launched at Lenalee.

The girl didn't even have time to scream as Allen tore through her flesh. She hadn't been expecting a claw attack again, and so she'd been ready for the sword. She was able to block, but not with her Innocence.

She staggered back from her attacker and collapsed, her arm streaming blood and her Innocence reverting back to the ruby anklets. It hurt to move her arm, but it could still move. The force had broken something--that was certain--but it hadn't severed a nerve nor done anything more serious than that.

She heard Allen coming closer and lifted her head. Her vision was blurring from pain and tears. "Allen..." she whispered. "Please, don't..."

"Allen" smirked. He knelt down and picked her up by the front of her shirt. He got a twisted satisfaction from the cry of pain as her arm fell limply at her side. "I'm sorry, I don't believe your Allen's around anymore," he hissed, his sadistic smile growing, "but don't worry. I'll send you after him, girl."

He lifted his claw arm to finish her.

Lenalee had other ideas, though. Her legs still worked even if the Innocence wasn't activated, so she used them. She kicked Allen hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to drop her. She wobbled, but was fine otherwise. She retreated far enough that she wouldn't be caught without warning and activated her Innocence once more. "Allen, stop this," she said. She hadn't understood Allen's words, but she knew one thing: the Allen they'd known was gone. She just hoped to God that he wasn't as gone as this Allen made it sound. "Please, we want to help you."

"I don't need your help, Exorcist," Allen growled. "I have my family."

* * *

Remembering their last duel Kanda opted for speed over strength and was rewarded with a cut to the Noah's shoulder. Not a very deep one, but in this kind of duel, anything could gain you the upper hand. With the Noah on the ground, Kanda moved for a second strike but was stopped when the Tease surrounded him once more at the command of their master. Kanda waited for an attack but had forgotten about the mass of Skull Tease hidden among the regular ones. He knew that he wouldn't be able to defend against them all, so when the bursts of energy fired from each, the samurai took a defensive stance with Mugen to protect his vitals at he very least.

White-hot pain assaulted him as the beams of energy ripped through his clothes and skin. When finally the attack ceased, Kanda fell to his knees. Tyki seemed pleased with himself for the damage his golems had done. Lucky for Kanda, however, Tyki knew nothing of his 'ability,' which gave Kanda some time to heal, knowing that Tyki would let him be while thinking he was dying. Hell, that would've killed a normal person.

Kanda truly hated using the Third Illusion, but the situation definitely called for it. With the time he had, Kanda activated the Third Illusion, his life force draining as it healed his many wounds. He could feel the burning sensation on his chest and near his eyes as he did this. Kanda knew that was a bad sign. With a huff, the exorcist pushed himself back to his feet and gripped Mugen tightly in his hands when he'd healed himself adequately.

"Kaichuu Ichigen!" The swarms of Hell's insects emerged from the sword, making a beeline straight for the Noah, and for a second, Kanda almost believed all that was worth it to see the shock on the Noah's face. "It'll take a lot more than that to kill me, Noah."

Tyki eyes remained glazed over as he watched the illusions come at him. "Tease," he commanded again as he snapped his fingers. This time, all the Tease flew between their master and the approaching threat and swarmed into a thick barrier to protect Tyki. The illusions crashed into the wall and were halted to a dead stop.

Tyki knew the barrier wouldn't last very long, so he melded into the ground just seconds before the Tease scattered, letting the illusions fly on by and ram into trees in the distance. Tyki appeared out of the ground again right in front of Kanda and cut him wide open on the chest and forced him back with a wave of white energy from his second cross blade. Looking where the exorcists now laid, Tyki said to him as he pulled out a cigarette, "That was more, are you dead now?"

Kanda knew he was screwed the moment he saw Tyki's indifference. Like it was nothing, he evaded the First Illusion and with his cross blades sent Kanda flying backwards. Hitting the ground with a thud, the pain of his newest injury kept him nearly paralyzed. Only able to listen, the samurai could hear Lenalee's cries and Lavi's scream. _Damn, they're losing... Badly._ Kanda tried to get up but couldn't, the wound protesting and splattering blood onto the earth. He waited for Tyki's death blow, but it never came.

Instead, Tyki struck a match to light his cigarette, but all of a sudden it began to rain which put out his match. Tyki looked up in a daze and then looked around him. He noticed the hammer exorcists had activated one of his seals and was in the midst of counterattacking Jasdevi_. I wonder how Allen-kun is doing,_ he thought as he turned his head and watched Allen just barely fending off the Heart-girl. _They're too evenly matched in skill_, Tyki thought to himself as he put his cigarette away, _but that new weapon of his should give him an edge.

* * *

_

Lavi had from one seal to the other so quickly that this time, Jasdevi hardly knew what was going on. The wave of water had crashed into him before he could conjure up a defensive wall and soon after, a bolt of lightning electrified the wave. Jasdevi screamed in pain as the current ran through his body for an agonizing amount of time. When the lightning dissipated, Jasdevi was left on the ground, smoking and burnt.

He lay there a few moments as he regained the feeling in his body. Slowly and inhuman like, Jasdevi lifted himself to his feet and threw his head from side to side, cracking it very loudly. "My turn," Jasdevi declared as he glared at the exorcist. His hair came to life and started moving about like snakes before it formed sharp points and grew in length to shoot the points out towards the exorcist.

Before Lavi could even react, he was pinned up against a tree by Jasdevi's hair, being electrocuted fiercely. Lavi let out a loud, painful cry, and let his head hang low. He attempted to break free from, but could not. Only slightly, Lavi lifted his head and watched Allen and Lenalee in the distance; Lavi couldn't believe that Allen was on the very edge of taking Lenalee's life. "Le...na...lee..." Lavi said quietly just over his slow breathing. He attempted to reach his hand towards her, but it soon fell, for the pain was unbearable.

* * *

Lenalee watched saw her friends go down. "Lavi! Kanda!" She cried out. She gripped her broken arm tightly and turned to Allen. "Are you happy?" she asked, tears welling in her eyes. "Your "family" is killing your friends! How can you let that happen?"

"Quite easily, Exorcist. They aren't my friends." Allen charged again, but stopped himself. His claw was touching her chest, right over her heart.

Small tears rolled down Allen's cheeks. "Lenalee..." he whispered. "R-run..." He took a few shaky steps back. "I... I don't..." He kept backing away. He knew she knew what he meant.

Tyki watched with joy as Allen looked as if he was going to make the killing blow on his former friend but was astounded when he stopped in mid-strike.

To make matters worse, a Level three Akuma with an arm ripped off came up to Tyki's side and said, "Lord, Mikk, we've lost the General's trail. Mistresses Road and Lulubell are hot on his trail but we're not sure where exactly he is now."

Anger was building up in Tyki as one thing after another went wrong. Tyki finally snapped and spear-handed the Akuma right through the head. Tyki retracted his hand from the Akuma, and it exploded, destroying the soul inside. Tyki sighed heavily and said, "Allen, Jasdevi, we're leaving." Tyki snapped his fingers. The sky split open as a gate to the ark appeared behind him.

Jasdevi looked over at Tyki as his attack on Lavi continued and he whined, "Awww, but we were just starting to have fun." Jasdevi ceased the lightning and forcibly ripped his hair from Lavi's body, causing him to fall on the cold, bloody ground below, and it returned to its normal length. With one step, Jasdevi rocketed to the Ark's gate and zoomed pass Tyki as he entered, causing a large gust of wind to flutter the tails of Tyki's coat and to make Tyki hold onto his top hat.

Allen blinked. The tears stopped immediately. He watched Tyki destroy the Akuma and nodded and turned back to Lenalee. "Too bad. I should've killed you sooner." He turned and followed Tyki back onto the Ark.

Lenalee's eyes widened. Allen had shown no reaction to the Akuma's destruction. "Allen," she said, reaching for him as he walked away. She felt dizzy, but shook her head. She couldn't pass out--not with the others already unconscious.

"Allen," she whispered again, collapsing to the ground weakly.

Timcanpy glanced over at Allen. Allen was his technical owner, even if it was a fake one. But, since the Noah ignored him entirely, Tim landed on the ground next to Lenalee to stay.

"Tim..." Lenalee whispered. "Is he even the same Allen anymore?" It was hard to tell. He hadn't killed her, and yet... he'd allowed Tyki to destroy those Akuma without complaint. "What should we do?"

But of course, Timcanpy couldn't answer. He wiped away Lenalee's tears with his tail, as if to say, "Don't cry. Things'll get better."

"You're right, Tim." Lenalee wiped away her own tears and settled against a tree. There was no way they could leave now, not with the others unconscious. "You're right."

* * *

Note from sailorstar165

At the time of -Man, Germany was A LOT bigger than it is present. Though I don't know exactly where Twilight (the RPer behind the Noah and the one who picked the location) was talking about, I'll assume it's closer to Russia, since Germany bordered Russia in 1850 (about the time DGM takes place according to the anime...)

And again, a fight scene... They're really hard to format when they split off into groups like that. My apologies if this one didn't turn out as well as the other one. I tried to group each fight best I could while keeping to the correct flow of time. Over all, though I'm happy with how the scene turned out.

I also had to cut out parts of the original posts to make sure the story flowed remotely smoothly. I hated to do this because a lot of it was very well written and absolutely amazing. I apologize to the Rpers for this, but a lot of things were repeated information or just didn't fit and weren't important to the overall plot. If anyone wants to read the full, uncut, unedited version, please visit our homepage and look in the DGM section under Anime/Manga and click The New 14th Noah. We'd also loved it if you joined the site. :)

Thank you for being patient with me and the updating. I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner, but it all depends on how long it takes us to post on the site. This is based on an in-progress RP, after all.


	15. On the Move

Back in the Ark, the four male Noah were trying to take it easy back in the piano lounge. They had failed yet another mission, and they knew the Earl wouldn't be too happy about it. The twins were now separated back in two and were lying down on separate couches as they tried to regain their energy—transforming into Jasdevi took too much energy out of the two of them.

Tyki was playing a mellow tune on the piano while smoking a cigarette, as he was contemplating why Allen hadn't finished off the Heart girl. _There's no way he still has feelings for them_, he thought after listening to Allen and watching him fight. _There's absolutely no way. Something's holding him back... Maybe it's still Road being mad at him_...

A little while later, Road's door appeared next to the piano, and Road and Lulubell entered from it, neither looking pleased. Road sighed and announced, "Tiedoll got away. We have no idea where he got to." She walked over to Tyki and fell on his shoulders in a sort of awkward hug as Lulubell went for the exit to inform the Earl. "I'm _soooooo_ tired!" she complained. " I'm gonna go lie down for a bit." She got off Tyki and then made her way for the door as well.

"Okay, Road." Tyki replied as he continued to play. As soon as the door shut behind her, Tyki took the cigarette out of his mouth to tap off some ash, and called to Allen in the armchair, "Oye, it might be a better time to talk to her while she's out of steam."

Allen nodded quickly and followed Road out of the room. "Road, um... can we talk a bit? I still want to apologize for whatever I did earlier and know if you hate me or not for whatever it was." He scuffed the floor with his shoe, too embarrassed to look Road in the eye.

Road stopped walking and turned slowly as Allen caught up with her and attempt to apologize. She almost wanted to hit him again for beating around the bush like he was doing, but her mission had expended all of her energy. Road sighed as she went to turn away and said, "I won't forgive you until you can tell me what you did wrong."

"But that's the thing! I don't know what I did! I keep telling you that, but you don't listen." He was getting frustrated, and for a moment, Allen wondered if that was what Road wanted. "Did I do something? Say something? Road, you have to throw me a bone here!"

Road turned her head to avert Allen's eyes as she huffed, puffed and grumbled to herself as the thought of last night still angered her. She attempted to speak a few times, but what she said only came out as grumbles. After a few false starts, she said, just under her breath, "You said her name in your sleep..."

"'Her name'?" Allen repeated dumbly. "Whose name?" Then it hit him. He'd been suspecting for a while, since he hadn't murdered the exorcist, but this proved it. The Noah knew he couldn't dream, and yet he'd said someone's name in his sleep, something that shouldn't have been possible. He frowned. The other Allen was still "alive" somehow.

"Whose name do you mean?" he repeated, none of his thoughts showing on his face.

Road crossed her arms and started tapping her foot in agitation. Allen was really asking for it now, but there was no point in slapping him again at the moment. "You're old exorcist friend..." Road said with a scowl and her head turned to the side. Road tensed up as she said the name, "Lenalee..."

"Lenalee? Her? Jeez." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I didn't realize I said that in my sleep," he lied coolly. "If I'd known that, I would've explained a while ago. See, I was dreaming that I was killing her and those other exorcists." He smiled, as if a little embarrassed that he hadn't realized earlier that that was the problem. "I'm sorry, Road. I guess I just talk a bit in my sleep."

Road looked down a minute, a little embarrassed that Tyki had guessed what he was dreaming right the first time and that she was too stubborn to believe him. _Okay fine, you win this time Tickie,_ she thought to herself as she inspected Allen again suspiciously, trying to discern if what he said was true or not. Road then simply walked away and went to her own room without a word to think things over.

* * *

Lenalee struggled to keep her eyes open, and the pain made that easy. She was exhausted, but the throbbing in her arm wouldn't let her fall asleep. She'd done the best she could with what she'd had, but without a first aid kit, the best she could manage was a makeshift splint from a small branch Tim broke off a tree for her and some bandages she always kept with her just in case.

There wasn't much she could do for the other two, though. Bandages wouldn't fix the burns Lavi suffered from the lightning the twins had forced through him, and Kanda's wound had already stopped bleeding, so there was no point to bandaging him up. Besides, she wouldn't have had enough bandages for him if it hadn't stopped anyway.

Lavi's eye opened slowly, and he looked around at his blurry surroundings with his eye alone. It took him a moment to remember where he was and why he was in so much pain. The pain was overwhelming, even as he lay there motionless.

Nonetheless, Lavi knew he couldn't stay in that position forever, despite the pain. He tried to move his arms in a proper position to help himself up, but the pain was too intense for him to continue. He groaned rather loudly at his poor attempt to move.

Lenalee looked up at the sound. "Are you all right?" she asked. It was a stupid question--he obviously wasn't all right--but at least it was an easy question to respond to if he was waking up.

Lavi's heart lifted; he had completely forgotten about Lenalee and Kanda. _I'm terrible..._ he thought as he turned his head towards Lenalee. Luckily, that's all Lavi had to do in order for Lenalee to be in complete view. His vision was no longer blurry now. "Not really... I can't move around too well... The pain's incredible."

Lavi paused and scanned over Lenalee's body. She, too, was injured rather badly. "Your arm... And what about Yuu? Is he doing all right?" Lavi was now concerned for his friends, and wanted nothing more than to help them any way he could. Lavi attempted to stand up again but fell back to the cold ground in the process.

"He's still unconscious, but he's in better shape than both of us." She sighed. "We need medical attention. Once Kanda wakes up, I'll run to town and find help. I'll get a doctor for you and some help to take you back. My legs are fine, even if my arm's not."

Lavi sighed and let himself fall back down to the ground. He hated being useless like this. "Lenalee," he began, "I don't think we should let you go alone. It'll be less trouble if the three of us go back at once. I'm not sure about Yuu, but all I'll need is a little help standing up..." Lavi tried yet again to push himself up and onto his feet. But just as before, he only crashed back down. The pain was truly unbearable.

"Besides," Lavi added, "the Noah may come back and go after you--or us. None of us are in any shape to fight any of them alone. It would be best to stick together, in my opinion." Lavi knew he was in no position to talk, since he couldn't even stand up on his own. Even so, he was trying to think logically.

"You're right," Lenalee admitted with a sigh. "We'll get going once Kanda wakes up."

Kanda would have been content to rest a while longer, but Lenalee and Lavi's voices had roused him back to the world of the living. Groaning, he pushed himself into a sitting position with his remaining energy. Judging by the lingering aches all over, he hadn't finished healing but was in good enough shape to move on, pain included. The most pain however, was centered at his heart. Though the tears in his uniform, he could easily see how the inky black marks had spread, startling him with how far they had gone.

Lenalee and Lavi had noticed him by now, so he quickly covered the area. "So, you guys still aren't dead yet? Che, pity."

Lavi turned his head back around to face Kanda, who was now sitting up against a tree. It didn't surprise Lavi in the least that Kanda would give him and Lenalee such a cruel remark. "Well, I'm glad to see that you're doing all right, Yuu." Lavi said in a sarcastic tone. Lavi, once again, attempted to pull himself up, but crashed back down to the ground yet again. _This is getting annoying..._

A minute or so passed before Lavi forced himself to sit up straight and lay back against the tree behind him, despite all the pain he was in. "All right," Lavi began, "I say we rest a little bit more for a couple minutes. Then we should head for the closest town from here. Does that sound good?"

"That's probably a good idea," Lenalee said with a sigh. They had to get moving, but she didn't want to force them. Their injuries were probably worse than her own. "But where do we go next? After we get medical attention in town, which way do we go? Should we keep following Timcanpy or head back to the Order?" She wanted to continue following the golden golem, but she knew she couldn't bring Allen back alone. She needed the others' help.

"The Noah are no doubt going to continue to hunt down General Tiedoll, so that's where I'm headed." _Once I've healed that is... _Kanda added to himself grimly "But first you two need medical attention. You're no use to the Order dead." To make his point, Kanda slowly pushed himself to his feet, pain burning throughout his entire body. There was no way in hell he was going to look weak in front of them.

Lenalee stood as well. She winced as her arm bumped against her body, but by now it had gone numb. Kanda was ready to get moving, so they should get moving. She knelt down next to Lavi and helped him up with her uninjured arm.

Once Lavi was on his feet, he wobbled but didn't fall. Lavi steadying himself best as he could without falling over with Lenalee's help, which he greatly appreciated. Luckily enough, he was able to stand up without crashing down to the ground. Hellish pain still rushed through his body, but Lavi tried his best to ignore the pain. For now at least, that is.

"We need to get you a doctor, Lavi," Lenalee said, hoping Lavi would be able to continue standing on his own. "Can you use your hammer to get you and Kanda to town while I run?"

Lavi flexed his fingers a couple times, making sure they were capable of gripping something. Once he was sure he could, Lavi turned to Lenalee with a nod as he answered, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can." _It'll hurt like hell though..._ he added in his head. Lavi grasped his hammer in his right hand tightly and had it extent to a decently large size. As always, Lavi placed the base of the hammer down on the ground at a slight angle. He carefully swung his right leg over the handle and sat down on it as best as he could. Looking over his shoulder at Kanda, Lavi said, "C'mon, Yuu. We don't have any time to waste."

Though he hated this mode of transportation, Kanda relented and hopped on the hammer. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be caught near the thing, but the aches and pains that plagued his body kept him from protesting too much.

Once Kanda was settled behind Lavi and helping to keep the injured redhead balanced, the group headed for town with Lenalee running ahead with her boots. When they finally reached the first houses on the edge, the people in their yards all stared. They looked a mess.

They stopped at the first doctor's office they found, a small building with brick walls. The doctor looked up from his newspaper when they entered and gaped at the three injured exorcists like they were aliens or monsters. "What the hell happened to you?" he asked, stunned.

"It's a rather long story," Lenalee admitted. "My friend and I need treatment. Do you think you could...?"

"O-of course, Miss!" the doctor said, leading Lavi and Lenalee to the cots in a back room, leaving Kanda to wait in the waiting room. "Wait here while I get some things together."

Kanda had always hated hospitals, but he was slightly relieved that they'd found one with the speed that they did. Lavi and Lenalee looked a mess, and he doubted he looked any better. He was, however, thankful for the orders choice in their uniforms being black. If the doctors were able to see how wet his uniform was with blood, he'd probably be hassled as well. Luckily, an icy glare was enough to keep them at bay.

Having nothing batter to do, the samurai found himself pacing, doing so until a mirror caught his eye. Curious, he went over. Yup, he looked like hell too. _Great._ His gaze, however, lingered on his shoulder. The black marks of his tattoo had now made their way up his neck, and if he checked, probably further than that. Having no other option at the moment, he yanked out his hair tie (which had managed to stay in, but snapped the moment he touched it), allowing the long strands to cover the area. He was shocked when his golem went off. Fumbling, he found the device and moved to a more secure location.

The conversation was short lived. Needless to say, the Order wasn't happy that he'd lost the general, but was more or less content that he was still alive. Kanda had failed to mention that he was with Lenalee and Lave, also that it was the Noah that had stopped them, but other than that, he was honest in his brief report. Grudgingly he listened to his new orders before shutting his golem off and stuffing it back in his pocket_._

_Innocence in Russia, eh? Russia means cold... Damn._ With that in mind, Kanda sat himself in the waiting room. He'd wait until Lavi and Lenalee were treated before telling them.

The doctor fixed up Lenalee's arm quickly and told her it would heal in a month or so. He then moved on to Lavi, leaving the female exorcist to go to the waiting room and sit with Kanda on her own.

"Did your hair tie break?" she asked, noticing that his hair was down. Usually he hated his hair down. "I'm sure if we asked we could get you a new one."

"It's not a big deal; don't worry about it. Anyway, change of plans. I'm off the general case. They want me to pick up some Innocence in St. Petersburg, Russia."

"Allen's in that direction," Lenalee commented, watching the golden golem stare off to the east still. She sighed and looked at her broken arm. "After what happened, though, I'm starting to wonder if we really ought to keep searching for him." She knew they were all in bad shape. They probably wouldn't survive another encounter with the new, more evil Allen.

"Well, that's for you to decide. I'm going regardless." Tim continued to stare motionless, but Kanda was rather untrusting of the golem now. After all, he'd be with his general now and not in a hospital if it wasn't for Tim. But he couldn't hate him. It wasn't like he did it on purpose or anything. Though while Tim was blank, Lenalee was as open as a book right now and obviously distressed.

Kanda let out a small sigh. "Look, I hate the Moyashi with a passion, and I really don't care what he does, but for the record, he's not completely evil... at least not yet... so there's my two cents." God he was bad at this kind of thing.

Lenalee nodded. She understood what Kanda meant. Allen could have killed her easily back there, and yet he hadn't. There was more to this than Allen being evil. "Kanda," she said quietly, "when I was fighting with Allen... He said that _our_ Allen wasn't around anymore... The way he said it... It was like he meant the Allen we knew was dead..." She looked up at Kanda helplessly. "But when he had a chance to kill me, he didn't and told me to run."

She looked back down at Timcanpy when Kanda looked at her questioningly. "I guess what I'm trying to say is... Do you think our Allen's gone like he said?"

* * *

Lavi was in terrible shape, or at least that's what he heard from the doctor. Of course, Lavi expected nothing less; he felt terrible. Hell, an hour ago he couldn't even stand up without falling over. Thankfully he was able to walk around some now, even if it hurt like hell. So in no time at all, the doctor simply bandaged Lavi up quite a bit and told him that his burns would eventually heal in due time, so that pleased Lavi quite a bit. Shortly after, Lavi thanked the doctor, and left.

Down the small hallway that led into the waiting room, Lavi could easily hear what Kanda and Lenalee were saying to each other. From what Lavi heard, he knew that Kanda was reassigned to find Innocence in Russia, which was where Allen and the other Noah were heading. Lenalee had stated this fact and spoke of whether they should continue their search after Allen or not. Surprisingly enough, Kanda was attempting to make her feel better_. Well... I guess it's not all that surprising... He's always been nicer to Lenalee than anyone else,_ Lavi thought as he listened intently.

Lavi then heard Lenalee speak quieter as he slowly approached the waiting room. He wasn't sure if she would want him hearing, but he was too curious to really care.

"Kanda, when I was fighting with Allen... He said that our Allen wasn't around anymore... The way he said it... It was like he meant the Allen we knew was dead... But when he had a chance to kill me, he didn't and told me to run," she said in barely a whisper.

This caught Lavi's off guard. He had seen the battle going on between them, but he didn't know what was actually going on between them, vocally that is. From what Lavi could tell, by that small action alone, the Allen they knew and cared for was fighting the Noah Allen deep within him.

When he heard Lenalee's question to Kanda, Lavi know he had to save the samurai from having to answer. "Of course not. Our Allen's still there. He's just not in full view, making it harder for us to find him." Lavi stated as he (finally) walked into view. He crouched down in front of Lenalee and Kanda as he said, focusing most of his attention on Lenalee, "Sorry, I hope you don't mind the fact that I was eavesdropping a bit. But really, the Noah Allen may be strong, but he didn't kill our Allen. I don't think he really can. If what Noah Allen said was true, then he's already tried to kill off our Allen but failed."

Lavi stood back up straight, even though it stung to move in such a way without being careful. Either way, Lavi looked down at Kanda and said, "So, Yuu, where did you say this Innocence was again? Odds are that the Noah are chasing after it as well."

Kanda listened quietly while Lavi spoke to Lenalee, inwardly thankful. He really hadn't wanted to answer Lenalee's question, and the rabbit had saved him. Not that he'd ever admit to that, though.

"It's in St. Petersburg Russia," Kanda replied when Lavi addressed him. "Not that far away when you think about it. If we move quickly, we might be able to get there first. Depending on if you'll live to make the trip." Kanda could barely restrain his smirk. If he looked like Hell, then Lavi looked positively dead.

Lavi looked at himself after Kanda's comment. He himself wondered if he could live to make the trip. He looked horrible, and he most definitely felt it, too. Nevertheless, they couldn't waste time. So Lavi would have to bare the pain and keep going as quickly as he could. Lavi only hoped that he would be able to go a decently fast speed.

Lifting his head back up, he focused his attention on both Kanda and Lenalee and said, "All right, now we don't have any time to waste with the Noah on their way there already. So let's get going."

With that said, they made their way to the train station quickly, paid for their tickets, and got on to the next train for St. Petersburg, Russia_. At least I'll be able to rest some on the way there,_ Lavi thought calmly.

* * *

**Notes from Sailorstar165:**

Sorry that it took so long to update!

Anywho, this chapter was easier than past chapters to format, but the part in the doctor's office was a little more difficult than the rest of the chapter. I apologize if you got confused with it. As always, check out our homepage if you wanna role-play. :)


	16. Noah's Mission

The next morning came surprisingly without any deep scars on the Ark. Of course, the Earl was displeased with his children, but he did not punish them in any way. However, he did mention that he would personally see to it that their next mission would not fail.

Road's dreams expired and she blinked her eyes open as her head slowly rose from the pillow. She stared down at her comforter as she pieced together her thoughts. She sighed and said to herself drowsily, "I guess I was wrong about Allen-kun."

She jumped out of bed and went over to her dresser to find her clothes for the day. Once she was dressed, she slipped on her shoes and skipped out of the door. Road then commenced to meander around the halls of the Ark as it was early in the morning and she figured everyone else was still asleep. Once she grew bored of wandering around, she made her way to the dining room to wait for others to join her so that she would have someone to play with.

Allen was already in the dining and looked up when Road entered. "Good morning, Road," he said, smiling brightly despite his frustration. He'd spent most of the morning trying to track down the exorcist Allen's mind and came up empty-handed. Wherever the brat was hiding, it was someplace the Noah couldn't reach. Before Road had come in, he'd been considering that the Innocence wasn't under his power as much as he'd originally thought. Now that Road was here, though, he abandoned his search for Allen's consciousness so he could focus more on her. "How did you sleep?"

Road was a little surprised to see Allen already in the dining room but a little glad at the same time. She walked over to Allen sleepily and hugged him from behind. "I'm sorry for being mad at you," Road unwillingly admitted. "It was stupid of me to jump to conclusions like that." She then kissed him on the cheek, making him blush slightly, and sat down in her spot next to him. "I slept all right, by the way," she tagged on after she sat down to answer Allen's question.

Not long after, the twins came meandering into the dining room with their pistols pointed at each other like always and their eyelids heavy. They flopped down into their chairs, and not two seconds after, their heads feel forward and hit the table with two loud thunks; they were still exhausted from transforming into Jasdevi. "Morning guys," they mumbled through the table, as they couldn't find the energy to lift their heads again.

The blush that had appeared when Road kissed him didn't last too long as the twins had just wandered in and hit the table. "Are you two going to be okay?" he asked, a little concerned. He wasn't used to seeing them so... dead. Them not being perky was like his former master not being a booze-hound-it just didn't happen.

"Yeah, yeah," the twins said in unison as they found the strength to turn their heads up so that they were looking at Allen with their chins still resting on the table. "Turning into Jasdevi takes a lot out of us," David explained. "We release too much energy at once, so we have hardly any strength left afterwards."

"Not to mention it hasn't been that long since the last time we changed back into our original self," Jasdero added with a lazy snicker tagged on at the end.

Their explanation finished, their foreheads hit the table again, and David mumbled through the table, "When is the Earl gonna show up?"

"When he wakes up, I'm sure," Allen replied, leaning back in his chair. "We'll wake you both up when he gets here," he added, noticing that the twins were all but falling asleep at the table.

Just as he finished, Earl stepped into the room. "Hello, my children!" Taking his seat, he looked at each of his children then gestured to his Akuma servants for the food. The Akuma maids nodded and started to set food onto the table before the Noah.

"Good morning," Allen replied. He glanced over at the twins, wondering whether to poke them or not. They didn't seem to be asleep quite yet.

But once most of the food hit the table, the twins perked up and got their heads off the table as they started to salivating. Their stomachs growled loudly—possibly louder than Allen's—and they regained they usually energy as they eagerly piled food high on their plates.

Lulubelle walked in the room as the twins started stuffing themselves and sighed. _And I have to sit next to them._ She took her seat next to the twins and carefully grabbed some food for herself, making sure to not get in the way of the twin's feeding frenzy. She wasn't about to lose any fingers to the twins' appetite, after all.

Road and Allen just stared at the scene in front of them, slightly disturbed by the ill-manners and barbaric eating habits of the twins. The two Noah then looked at each other, shook their heads and began to gathering food for themselves in a more civilized manner.

As breakfast continued, Road kept glancing over at Tyki's empty chair and wondered when her uncle would finally make it to the table. She looked away to get some more breakfast for herself, and when she looked back a figure had walked in over to the chair. Road looked up gleefully to greet Tyki, but she was disappointed when it was just an Akuma maid placing some food on Tyki's plate and pouring a cup of coffee into his cup. Road glared at the Akuma in slight confusion as it placed these things on a tray and finally asked, "What do you think you're doing?"

The Akuma maid turned Road and said as it bowed its head, "Excuse me, Lady Kamelot. I'm taking breakfast to Lord Mikk. He is not feeling well this morning and sent me to fetch him his breakfast." The maid then picked up the tray, bowed to the other Noah, and exited the room.

Road watched the Akuma leave the room with a worried expression on her face. _Uh oh,_ she thought to herself. _I hope that isn't hurting again..._

Allen noticed the worry written all over Road's face as the Akuma left with Tyki's breakfast. "Tyki probably has a hangover from drinking too much," he assured her in a low voice so the others couldn't hear. The memory of the mini fridge was still fresh in his mind, and Tyki was probably moping about their mission the night before.

Road almost ignored Allen completely because she was going over the possibilities in her mind. _I guess it could be just a hangover,_ Road thought to herself, _but then again, Tyki would at least show up to breakfast before heading back to bed... I wonder how much he had last night, if any at all... Could he have gotten sick in the forest?_

When his assurance seemingly had no effect, he asked quietly, "What's wrong, Road? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Road looked back at Allen with distressed eyes and muttered back, "I'm just worried about him. It's not like Tyki to not shrug off whatever is wrong with him..." She thought for a moment if Allen could do anything, but Road wouldn't want Allen to see Tyki if Road's worst suspicions were actually true. "No it's all right Allen," Road replied as she picked up her utensils to eat. "I'm sure a little more rest and a little bit of food will put Tickie back on his feet."

Earl, meanwhile, watched his children as they eat, but he noticed that one was missing. _Oh well._ As the maid left with the food the Earl grinned and called on his little ones. "My dears, a little bird told me there is an Innocence in St. Petersburg." He glanced at the twins as they continue to eat their fill, then to Allen watching Road with worry then to Road who look worried herself. "I wish for you to destroy it."

Allen looked away from Road and nodded to the Earl. This time, he wouldn't screw it up. This time, he would destroy the Innocence, and if the exorcists showed up again, he would make sure to destroy them as well. If they were gone, the other Allen would have no reason to return and would fade away into nothingness, as he'd originally planned. "We will do our best, Master Earl."

Lulubelle had just finished her breakfast as the Earl told his children of their new mission. She set her fork down and patted her mouth with a napkin before asking, "Master Earl, didn't you say before that you were going to join us this time to make sure we don't fail?"

The twins looked dumbfounded from Lulubelle to the Earl in light of this new information. The Earl joining them only meant one of two things: the mission was either very important or he was tired of the Noah failing and was going to make sure they succeeded. Because this mission was just finding an Innocence, the Earl was going to be there to test them.

_We can't screw up!_ the twins thought at the same time before they stood up panicking. "W-W-We're gonna go get ready!" Jasdero said in a shaky voice as he looked for his twin for support. He didn't even snicker at the end like usual.

"Uh-uh-uh, yeah!" David added in the same voice, "It's cold in Russia... We're gonna find warm coats!" And the two of them dashed off away.

Road sighed at the twins before realizing some truth in what they said. _Oh darn_, she thought, _we don't have a warm jacket for Allen, do we?_ She thought for a moment where he could get one spur of the moment, but all trails of thought ended with Tyki. She sighed as she finished the last bite of her breakfast and then stood up. "Allen-kun," she started as she looked down at Allen from behind his chair, "I'm going to go get ready. Can you go to Tickie's room and see if he's well enough to join us? Also, ask him for a winter coat to borrow." With that, Road walked nervously out of the room. _Please let Tyki be okay_, she thought to herself as she walked back to her room.

"All right. See you, Road!" Allen crammed a few more pieces of toast into his mouth and stood to leave. He bowed a quick goodbye to the Earl before heading over to Tyki's room.

The door was locked, but that was always the case, as Tyki didn't actually need to use the door to get in. So Allen knocked and waited for a response. When he didn't get one immediately, he knocked again and asked, "Tyki, are you all right?"

* * *

Across the Ark, there was eerie stillness within Tyki's bedroom as the silver tray where his breakfast remained untouched on his dark wood desk. The Noah was bent over the sink in his bathroom with his shaking hands clenching the sides of the marble bowl, breathing heavily and unsteady. A shallow pool of blood filled the basin, and blood had splattered the mirror and Tyki's hands, shirt and mouth. No open wound could be found on the Noah, but his unbuttoned shirt revealed a large scar across his chest with a smaller one crossing the larger.

As Tyki felt a throbbing pain throughout his body, he felt stomach churn once more and threw up more blood into the sink. _Damn it!_ he thought to himself as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. _I thought this was finally settling down...That fight with Katana-kun must have agitated it..._ As he felt stomach churn again, Tyki swallowed to calm his body and sighed heavily as he fought the urge to vomit again. Feeling he had control of himself once more, he grabbed the faucet handle and turned the water on to rinse out his sink.

Tyki watched the water run and the blood spiral down the drain and heard a knock at the door. Tyki waved his hand towards the bathroom door and a tease melted from his body. The tease fluttered over to the door of his room and perched itself on the latch. The latch slowly rotated under the butterfly's weight and finally clicked open, unlocking the door, leaving the Tease to flutter about the room. Not soon after Tyki heard the door unlock, he felt another urge in his chest and could not resist this time. Tyki coughed, and soon after vomited a little more blood. He clenched his chest from the pain and thought to himself, _Please be Road..._

"Tyki?" First, Allen saw the untouched tray of food. Then Allen heard the retching sound. He rushed to the bathroom, where the sound originated from. His eyes widened at the sight of blood dribbling down Tyki's chin and dripping down into the sink. "A-are you all right?" This wasn't just a hangover. It couldn't be. Not with him throwing up blood. "What should I do?"

But what could he do? He wasn't a doctor, and he doubted a doctor could solve whatever was wrong with Tyki anyway. "Should I get the Earl?" Noah Allen didn't normally panic, but this case was definitely an exception.

"Just calm your ass down," was the first thing Tyki said to Allen. This was why he had hoped it was Road at the door of his room: because only Road understood what was wrong with him. After that last vomit, Tyki felt a little relief his stomach churning. So, he lowered himself down to the floor and scooted over to the nearest wall to lean his back up against as he wiped the remaining blood from his mouth with his already blood-stained shirt.

"A doctor won't be able to help me, and the Earl can't do much more about it either," Tyki informed Allen as he leaned his head back to rest from his episode. "This has been happening since..." Tyki trailed off as he glanced over at Allen and saw the scars on his forehead. "Well," he continued as he averted his gaze, "before you got here..."

Allen took a deep breath to calm himself, then asked carefully, "It started when I cut you, didn't it?" So now he knew what the sword did to Noah. The Noah Allen was almost sad that the real Allen wasn't there to see this. If he was there, the scene would've torn him apart

Tyki looked down at the scars on his chest before he responded, "You're exorcism didn't completely fail back when you were just human. I used to have an episode once every few weeks just after it happened, but it's been two months since my last episode, so I thought I was in the clear." He looked down at his blood splattered shirt and chuckled as he tagged on, "But apparently the Innoncence's poison is still running through me..."

The Noah Allen swallowed thickly, then changed the subject. He didn't want to talk about the damage Allen's cursed sword could do. "We have a mission, Tyki," he said, though he really didn't think the other Noah up to much of anything. "We're supposed to find an Innocence in St. Petersburg. If you aren't up for it, I'll tell the others you're under the weather."

Tyki held up his hand and said, "No, I should go. They probably won't be able to complete the mission without me, and the Earl is already mad at us." Tyki tried to get up, but the throbbing pain kept him from going anywhere. "Allen," Tyki said as he lazily pointed towards the door, "be a friend and grab some clothes for me, would you?"

"Sure," Allen said with a nod. He went to Tyki's closet and got some fresh clothes. "Here," he said, handing these to Tyki.

"Thanks." Tyki grabbed the new clothes and set them down on the floor next to him. He peeled off his bloody shirt and tossed it towards his shower. "Between you and me Allen," Tyki began as he changed into his shirt, vest and tux jacket, "I sometimes wish that your exorcism would have worked back then. I can't stand these people, and getting beaten by those exorcists all the time is starting to get old. The only reason I still do it, is because killing and destroying," Tyki paused for a moment as he brought his hand up to his face and his eyes shimmered demonically as he said, "is just too damn fun."

He then coughed a little at that moment and hack up a bloody luggy which he spat away from Allen. He took a second to breathe before he continued to get dressed. "If there was a way to keep my sadistic impulses content and not have to keep playing this role," Tyki paused as he tied his tie and slipped on some white gloves that he pulled form his tux jacket, then continued, "I'd take it..."

Tyki looked solemnly at the floor for a moment before he shook his head and tried to stand up again; however, he still in too much pain to get up on his own. Tyki sighed and then looked up at Allen as he held his hand out towards him and asked, "A little help?"

Allen couldn't believe his ears. Tyki would give up being a Noah? Seriously? Impossible!

He was so stunned by what Tyki had just admitted that he almost missed the Noah of Pleasure's request. He tried to smile and helped Tyki stand properly. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked tentatively. "You're starting to talk nonsense."

Tyki struggled to get up as painlessly as possible, but he didn't succeed all that well. He complained and made painful interjections as he stood up. Once on his own feet, Tyki fixed himself as he said to Allen, "I guess I am now, aren't I? The pain must be getting to my head." He walked slowly back over to his closet and pulled out his top hat and two coats. He slipped the long leather coat on and handed the thick wool one to Allen. "We're going to Russia right?"

"Ah, thank you," Allen said, accepting the coat and slipping it on.

He grinned and helped Tyki best he could to where the others were waiting for them like nothing was wrong, but still Tyki's words haunted him. _"If there was a way to keep my sadistic impulses content and not have to keep playing this role... I'd take it..."_ It made no sense. Tyki was starting to sound like _that_ Allen. It made the Noah in Allen sick to his stomach just to hear such words come from Tyki's mouth. Still, it was probably the pain, just as Tyki said. He couldn't mean it, right?

* * *

Notes from sailorstar165: I apologize for the delay. Things got a little hectic on Your Role. There was a bit of a regime change (and I became the new leader) and the person who used to give me transcripts of the RP to work with seems to have quit. I apologize once again. And as always, please check out our website by clicking the homepage link on our profile page. Thank you for reading. And I'm sorry if this felt short. It was a good place to break.

Oh, and we need some help. If we have any people who want to play Road or Tyki, now's your chance. It seems xTwilightxAngelx, the RPer behind them, has quit the site. We need a replacement. So if you're interested, click that homepage link!


End file.
